Checkmate
by Black Th1rt3en
Summary: When an aspiring engineer student is thrown back in time she proves to be much more trouble than Dracula - or anyone really, initially anticipated. And as the plot thickens and secrets of the past are uncovered, it seems the truth to who Kyla really is can only be answered by a certain Prince of Darkness. He just doesn't know it yet. (Revamped; please R&R!)
1. The Opening

**So to all my veterans who read the original, still progressing version of** _Checkmate_ **I'd like to say sorry for suddenly deleting the story on you. After some talking and decisions making I decided it was best to scrap what I'd had to restart anew. Not only does it give me the chance to make my writing more quality, but I can fix some plot holes that had been there before. Originally I didn't plan on rewriting it for a while, but in the shower I had a boom of inspiration and here I am! Some parts of the old version will be seen here, the main example being this chapter, but following this a lot of things will be different. I would advise skimming so you can see my different word choice instead of skipping everything if that's what you planned on doing, because my approach on characters will be different - Kyla included.**

 **Now to the newbies! Welcome aboard the crazy train, people! I hope you enjoy my story because it will be packed with humor, adventure, action, supernatural, and of course ROMANCE! I know that's why most of you are here, so hopefully I can make you all happy.**

 **Off that note I think I should explain some things before this story is started. The movie** _Van Helsing_ **doesn't exist, Dracula was/is real as were all the other myths, but once the twenty and twenty-first century rolled around all these things were either exterminated or hidden carefully by the Knights of the Holy Order. So instead of being transported into the** _Van Helsing_ **universe, Kyla is merely transported back in time. There will also be a lot of religion in his book, not excessively, but since we are talking about vampires and the son of the devil and god constantly I thought I should forewarn people. I am not Jewish but I will do my best to try and follow their religion as best I can. I will be doing a lot of research on that front and many others, but some things must be made up for the sake of my story so it will be AUish and have all holes in reality filled by moi. So if you're a stickler for ultimate details and factual I can't promise your full happiness.**

 **This story has been inspired by some very great writers so I must thank them for being an inspiration to me, but I must also thank the people who have supported my hobby and encouraged me to continue to write this story.**

 **Now onto some of the more boring stuff. I do NOT own** _Van Helsing_ **or any of the characters in that movie, I only own my own characters and main character. This story will also be rated 'M' because there will be sexual content, mention of it, profanity, and all sorts of other mature themes not for virgin eyes. :3**

 **Also, I thought I should note there will be plot twists and lots of small details that will be important later in the story. A lot of the things I write will also be symbolic, for example Kyla (the main character save for Dracula) means 'Victorious' in Hebrew. Kyla is also another variation of Kali which means goddess of death in Hindu, the reason for that being . The reason for her name cannot be stressed enough later in the story, nor can Kyla's ties to her Hebrew background.**

 **If you enjoyed please review, and if you didn't, please also review. I'm all for con-crit besides hate. I'm not or negativity in the slightest. Also forgive all my grammar mistakes, I tried to correct them myself but I am beta-less, cue my internal sobbing.** **But enough rambling! On with the story!**

 **-Dev**

* * *

 **CHECKMATE**

—

"most gods throw dice, but fate plays chess, and you don't find out

til too late that he's been playing with two queens all along"

—

1

;;the Opening

[1887, Transylvania]

Fear and anxiety were two very similar feelings. They were strong and could make you shudder and squirm from the sense of butterflies in your stomach. Victor could hardly tell the difference ever, let alone when his brain was scattered as it was now. The line was thin, and he was afraid he'd crossed it long ago. He was only a man, a very jittery man with much to fear and little to defend himself with. He'd joined a world that men like him shouldn't be in, and his only sense of protection was his motivation to learn the world as it really was.

The clock struck eleven, the arm shifting with a creaky heave that caused Victor to jump in his spot by his creation. He had long dulled out the whirring of the machine, but it seemed once more he had spaced out to his reality in search of consolation in his thoughts. He had found none, and now he was yanked back into the crushing existence that was his own.

At this point there was little Victor could do to protect himself, to escape his fate. He had signed his death when he pursued science in reviving the dead and other said to be impossible ambitions. To try and defy god's rule was to die - he was a dedicated Hebrew, and he believed it was the greatest sin to go against god's word. But it was his life and duty to explore the unknown as a scientist, and he would take all necessary leaps to achieve what he could when he had failed before. Now was not time to reminisce in the past experiments, Adam was to be born, and hopefully he could make peace with the world with his creations in coexistence with each other. The ying to the yang. The life to death.

Surely he was damned. He had to be. Victor prayed to god as he scurried around his desk that was a disarray of drawings and barely legible writing. He had little luck finding the papers he needed, finding the ones he needed to store away from prying eyes. Victor had long awaited this day with large degrees of dread, but he could not avoid it any longer. That thought didn't prepare him for it anymore than he was though.

Time was not on his side, he could hear the ticking of the clocks in his ears as it taunted him of the every minute lost. Adam was at risk, Eve was at risk. But she was no longer here, so his son was his top priority. Victor picked up the pace considerably, sweat beading in his hair and staining the jacket he wore with the stress he carried on his shoulders. This was all his fault... all his fault! He had betrayed his family by selling his soul to a witch, to the son of the devil. He was but a man and man committed sin, but forgiveness was only in the lord's hands above, and he could only pray for it. "God forgive me, Adam forgive me. I never intended this." There was a flash of lightning that lit up the room for a mere second, and suddenly the fear grew and anxiety hid behind it. He could feel his stomach shrivel-he couldn't seem to find the letter, his last will and testament to his sins.

He had ruined enough with his work, soiled a perfect life and burdened it with an unknown duty that only time could tell. He regretted this, regretted putting all his misdeeds on something, _someone_ else. There was no time for him to explain what he'd done, no time to figure out the solution to the equation he had no chance of solving for it was not his to solve. He had put this upon Eve, and rightfully he would pay. Victor only wished he could repent properly and with explanation, but that was a risk far too great.

Frankenstein had a dream once, something he thought was a prophecy of his future, of what he was capable of doing. But now he saw what it truly was: an omen of what his creations would achieve if put in the wrong hands. Victor had been scared, he had let his child be molded into a monster. And so he'd banished her in the only way he knew, but he would not make the same mistake with Adam. He had learned from his failure, and Adam would be no child when he came into this cruel, cruel world. Such a corrupt place had no room for innocent children to grow.

Victor stopped his search, running a hand through his brown hair as he turned back to Adam, a thin sheet of sweat having accumulated on his forehead from all the deep worrying and running around. Another bolt struck, the thunder following but not stopping the cry that escaped his patient's mouth as life pulsed through his veins. Victor's fear grew through his beating heart, but his happiness at an achievement long overdue made a shout of joy escape his trembling lips as he ran to his son's side and gazed down at him. In life he had created death, and in death he had now created life. "It's alive," he breathed to himself, a smile spreading over his shining face before he echoed his words with more fervor, jumping around like a child. "It's alive! It's alive!"

His enjoyment was put on standby at the sudden scattered shouting of gruff voices outside the castle. The distance has dulled the volume greatly, but it was close enough for the concern to grow tenfold. On top of everything else on his plate, this would most surely be a very sour tasting cherry.

He ran to the glass, peering out and confirming his negative emotion with a sinking feeling. Suddenly he didn't feel so fine, and slowly he backed away from the glass, a sudden rock like feeling settling deep inside him as his heart pounded in his ears and the breathe in his lungs escaped him. "Success!" The deep voice shook Frankenstein to the core, his feet twisting at the suddenness of it and he turned to face his guest, heart beating impossibly faster.

"Oh, Count, it's only you."

It was more of a statement than a question, and it got the blood to pump faster in his veins. He only hoped Dracula would not notice, the last thing he needed was the Prince of Darkness on his case as well. But Dracula saw through Victor's sloppy masque with an ease beyond normal man, then again, he wasn't a normal man.

"I was beginning to lose faith, Victor. A pity your moment of triumph is being spoiled over a little thing like grave robbery."

This struck a chord in Frankenstein, and to better hide his secret he turned away, praying god would not abandon him in the face of the devil's son. Luck was no longer on his side either, but he had to rely on something, and god seemed the only viable solution. Even after all he'd done to defy him Victor would always go crawling back to god. "Yes. I must leave this place." Victor rushed haphazardly around, collecting a few items and throwing them in a box. He secretly hoped he would find the testament for safe hiding, but in vain.

The Count was still blissfully unaware, and since he had no reason to be suspicious he did not try to pry into Victor's mind. That did not stop his worry of it happening so he quickened his pace, hoping his hastiness would lead him from the' vampire king's company sooner. Though some small part of him realized he would never leave, that among his work he would die.

Dracula seemed to know what he was thinking on that front. If not killed by him, Victor would be at the mercy of the angry mob on his front door, though honestly he would prefer the mob if given a choice. "Where will you run, Victor? Your peculiar experiments have made you unwelcome in most of the civilized world."

This revelation stopped Frankenstein mid-step, where would he go? He hadn't thought of the escape hatch, only his work. He was three steps behind and he knew Dracula wouldn't protect him. With Adam alive there was no reason to keep the scientist alive. He had been a fool before, a fool then and nearly now, but he would not trick himself into believing Dracula knew mercy. But he could hope, and he would. Victor had solid resolve to do so even if everything else was falling to shambles, the vampire could never know, so he settled for a feeble, half-hearted reply. "I'll take him away, far away, where no one will ever find him."

"No, no, Victor. The time has come for me to take command of him." A devious smirk graced the flawless face that was Dracula's, the skin about his mouth creasing in a malevolent manner that made Frankenstein's insides churn. A part of him had hoped this would not happen, held onto a dream that was far beyond reach. Dracula was never in this for his work, he was in it for himself. His words only confirmed Victor's fears, but he remained somewhat composed. Only somewhat.

"He's his own person, you...you can't control him, his purpose-." Victor was slowly backing away from the Count, watching as Dracula took purposeful strides towards his retreating person until he was backed up against the table.

Dracula's face turned dark, the very definition of malevolence. And his words dripped with venom, it was so potent Victor could feel his skin tremble like he'd been injected. "His purpose will align with my own, Victor. Make no mistakes of that. He is the key to life, to all me and my brides have tried to achieve."

Victor was sure he did not want to know what that purpose was, though he had an idea, it was those suspicions that led him to keep his secrets so adamantly like he vowed to do so in the first place. World domination. In the end Dracula was all like the others, all he wanted was to rule on a throne of sin above all others. Above mortals. He didn't know what he expected from the son of the devil, but it seemed the genius man was a prey to his blinding charm despite his efforts to resist "But why?"

"For such a smart man you are very slow on the pick up." The horror portrayed on Victor's face sent tingles of satisfaction down the Count's spine, the Doctor had every reason to be scared in his presence and Dracula's grin only widened at the elated feeling that ran through his dead body at the thought. He knew this to be especially true since his well being was not a matter of the Count's concern anymore. His indifference bled into his tone as he continued to address the Doctor in a most casual manner. "For countless years I've tried-and failed mind you-to rebuild the Dracul name through heirs. For a vampire this is a feat not so easily accomplished, and with the help of your monster my kin can finally be alive, and my name can become the most feared to ever be said in all of existence." The haughty smirk twisted, his electric blue eyes flashing as he shrugged nonchalantly. "Your work is they key to that, and you've delivered my ticket to success right to me."

If Victor had thought himself scared before, he was utterly horrified now. All along the Count's plans were spelled out right in front of him, he had been a pawn in a game of mass destruction and he hadn't even an inkling about it. He had surmised the Count would do something evil after weeks of letting his insecurities brew into full-fledged conspiracy theories, though none of them surpassed this. This was much worse than anything his mind could have imagined. Much, much worse. "My work could never, _will_ never be used for such evil." _Never again_ , he amended, _not until my very last breath_. The courage that was lacing his tone was considerable when one took into account the circumstances at hand, but his bravery could also be mistaken for stupidity, because even though he had the solution it was not as his disposal to use, so his mettle was trivial at best. Dracula enjoyed the false hope the Doctor had, he was going to squish it, just like he was going to squish Victor. Oh it was just so fun to be the boot that killed the bugs.

"I'm afraid such things are out of your control."

Victor's face remained brash, he would not yield even if it meant death. He would die a martyr and in the name of God—no longer would he participate willingly in sin. "I would never allow it."

A sharp peel of laughter echoed off the stone walls, causing the Doctor to jump a bit by the suddenness of it. Even in his moments of mirth—though presently it was more mocking—Dracula was utterly terrifying. "You would never allow it? For a dead man walking you have quite the sense of humor." He let the words sink in, approaching the Doctor in two long strides before clasping a cold hand around the base of his neck. His voice was no longer taunting, but a low growl at Victor's lack of respect. Dracula wouldn't tolerate it from a mere mortal man. "It's a good thing I don't need your approval, Victor, but even better I'd say that I don't need you at all." To emphasize the point his canines lengthened into pointed fangs before they sunk mercilessly into the soft flesh of his neck, sucking out all the blood from his veins until he was nothing more but a pale, mangled body with blood oozing from his jugular.

Victor was all wide eyes and flailing limbs as a pain like no other erupted in his neck, but he was no match to the four hundred year old vampire that was latched greedily onto him. He saw Igor in the corner of his eyes, his long partner's name dying on his lips as the torment brought a shred of clarity to his ending reality: he'd been played, so much in fact that he had every reason to believe his own minion was absent before due to treachery. Victor was a fool even in death despite trying to be otherwise. It seemed to be his fate.

Dracula pulled back, satisfied with the hefty drinking even if the copper taste was a bit on the sour side. Cowardly people usually did taste that way. He cleansed his mouth of the red dribble that leaked from the upturned corners of his lips on the back of his silk sleeve, reminiscing in the subtle vindication of sucking the positively trembling man dry. Said man was now crumbled at his feet, a barely fluttering pulse still beating in his chest.

His victory was short lived, vanishing when, from across the room, a large metal piece of machinery flew at Dracula, successfully throwing him into the flames in the pit of fire. The thrower was a man, a monster of a man more accurately who with quick, limping steps picked his bleeding father up into his arms and ran.

Adam was afraid. Righteously so; he'd woken up in a strange place strapped down to a strange bed with only some artificial memories and knowledge placed there by his maker—no, his father—whom was now bleeding out in his hands from a Nosferatu: a blood sucking demon that now burned in the fireplace of what Adam knew as home.

Adam had heard what had transpired, but like his father he would not be used for evil. He would honor Victor in the only way he knew how to: by being all good.

Adam ran, ran from the castle that was his birthplace which was now being raided by men with torches. He knew not where to run, but like the lightning above a thought struck him: the windmill. The windmill, yes, the windmill! It was no more than a mile away, and his long strides covered the land in fast paces, the only thing that held him back the gimp in his right leg. He didn't know how he'd thought of it, but he thanked his father and God above for letting that one thought run through his previously undead mind.

"Frankenstein!"

The voice was unfamiliar, and though curiosity had Adam almost turning back the screams of the grave robbers only made him double his efforts to reach his destination. Their clamor behind him caused the deep grief to rattle his bones, the anguish to consume him as he climbed the wooden windmill and stood atop its uppermost ramparts, his father in arms. Over the sound of the fire that consumed the base of the building he could hear the jeers of the grave robbers. They were none of his concern, the thick smoke that raised high above him did not affect him. Only the limp man in his arms brought his raging emotions to their pinnacle, and Adam let out a cry of utter sorrow as the life of his father bled through the wound on his neck and onto the monster's arms. "Why? Why?"

The mob quieted at the question, so laced with melancholy that it caught them completely off guard. Such a creature could not feel, yet here it was-crying into the cold night at the death of its maker. Perhaps with more emotion than a single one of them had ever felt, and so they were caught on their back foot. But their mission had not failed, the fire had weakened the base of the windmill and with one final lament the monster and its creator fell into the flames, the structure collapsing over it like a house of cards falling down.

The following silence did not last long, its fragility jeopardized by the whistling of the wind until it was completely shattered by the inhuman screeching of air-born demons. The mob knew the sound, and immediately they dispersed, running into the cover of the words with the word "Vampires!" fresh on their cold lips. "Run to the forest!"

Four screeching beasts flew towards the scene of destruction, three white and one a monstrous black, all transforming into the irresistible beings that were Dracula and his brides. All of them mourned the loss of the only thing that could bring their child back to life. The Frankenstein monster that could fulfill the progeny they'd tried to achieve for over three hundred years. It burned before them, just barely out of reach like some sick joke. Karma was just a lovely thing, wasn't it?

The Count was silent, the only thing betraying his slack face was the glazed over look in his cold blue eyes. They cleared, but nothing around him came into focus. The only thing he could see was the crackling of the flames, the only thing he could hear was Victor's voice as it recited things from past meetings. Something wasn't right. The Count in all his experience stepped back – figuratively of course – and began piecing together a picture he hadn't even known was being painted. Victor it seemed had much more up his sleeve than one experiment, and though the Doctor was a cowardly man he wasn't stupid. The Count had always been aware of that, strictly in the sense of educational genius, however it seemed that Victor had something planned, a backdoor if you will in case nothing worked out. The Count wished he had sifted through Victor's memories more thoroughly while he had the chance, but a charred man was of no use to him. The only evidence on the side of the Count's suspicions were that of his current musings and the recollection of having previously read into the mad scientist's thoughts.

The good Doctor had always been quite jumpy, but it seemed tonight he had been more so, almost as if he was anticipating something far worse than the grave robbers or the announcement of the progeny. Victor had always been shift in his work, but now that he thought about it Dracula could see how in some cases the Doctor was even more so, sometimes even protective of what he was writing. Then there had been the point in time in which the Doctor had secluded himself from all life forms, including Igor, saying that he needed solitude to think appropriately. This was of no concern to Dracula at the present, he had all the time in the world after all, but it seemed that Victor was not researching anything but information of private means.

Dracula was sure Victor had always been invested in the Adam project and would always have been, if he lived on that was, but it did not excuse his actions tonight. He was undeniably different, from the way he acted to how he held himself to even how he spoke. In the face of death the Doctor was scared but not for himself Dracula saw now, he was scared for someone else, _something_ else. And Dracula has the inkling that if he found what that something else was, he would have his progeny back in full swing even without the Frankenstein monster's presence.

A dark smile curled at the prince of darkness' lips, and his once dramatically mourning brides crowded him, his sudden shift in mood causing theirs to become just as light – or should I say dark? – as his even without an explanation.

"Do not lose hope so quickly, my brides. I have a hunch that will lead us to victory.."

Four mouths curved into inhumanely sly grins, this wasn't over yet. It was only just beginning.

* * *

[Modern day, New Jersey]

Steam rose from a fresh cup of dark roast which sat cozily on a small table that was crowded with an elbow, forearm, and a blank piece of paper that was presumed to be sketched upon in due to the already faintly existing lines. Said drawing was supposed to be of an original take on an already existing invention, which happened to be a modernized tracker that was simple and less expensive than existing ones for Kyla. Such was not an easy accomplishment for the college student however, as not only was she exhausted, but she was out of ideas and nearly out of coffee. At the moment she didn't know which was worse.

Kyla was not happy with the rate of her work ethic as of late, it was so slow a mollusk would look like Usain Bolt in comparison. Usually she could jump right on board with projects like these thanks to her exceptional gift in engineering as a whole, but even that talent couldn't save her lack of ambition. That fact brought on a bout of depression, as engineering was the only passion Kyla had outside of music, reading, and doing absolutely nothing productive with her life. All three took absolutely no amount of skill, as Kyla could not produce music nor find a book outside the supernatural realm that interested her.

With a pout on her face, Kyla drank the rest of the coffee and pushed the now empty cup to the far end of the table for more space. Granted it didn't make much more room, but that was the last of her concerns at the moment. Lately, the dirty blonde girl's mind had been anywhere but where it needed to be. With exams on the way and the ever nearing graduation to all her engineering classes, Kyla could not afford to lose focus lest she wished to also lose her future and mother's favor. Not that she had the latter in the first place.

Hilda Thomson was, for a lack of better words, a complete and utter bitch. Or at least she was to her daughter. Kyla was unaware of what she'd done to be so out in left field of her mother's good graces, but the woman seemed determined to hate her daughter despite having harbored her for nine months in her abdomen. She was convinced that sometime in her lost childhood she'd performed some extremely horrible act that earned this sort of shunning. What she could have done she had no idea, but it must have been really bad for her own mother to entertain such potent ill will against her own kin, even if Kyla was considered the disappointment – behind her divorced father, of course – of the family.

Unconsciously Kyla had begun rubbing the jagged scar that lined her arm, lately the damaged tissue had been acting up, constantly screaming for her attention in the form of itching. Realizing the existence of the wound and therefore her lack of remembrance only managed to dampen her already very sodden moods.

Kyla often contemplated the fact that if she had control over her life that she would change one thing: she could remember. That may sound like an utterly stupid and useless request to most, but to someone that struggled to remember – actually, scratch that – couldn't remember anything before her sixteenth birthday it seemed like a plausible wish. No one spoke of the "dark days" as she called them, and the only token of actuality that she had the she existed before that time were the scars and the story that came with them. Though vague like the rest of her life was explained, her scars were said to have been obtained from a gruesome surgery where she lost all her memory in a wreck and had a number of metal plates inserted in her body to stop it from shattering further. That was all she had, and it seemed that was all she'd ever get even if it wasn't enough to satisfy her, but she had long since come to live with it, even if it was beginning to once more take a toll on her.

Kyla was determined, if not to do homework, than to nip this problem poste haste before it festered into the three stage monster of ice cream, sex, and movies like it had last time. No - she was definitely not repeating that phase of her life ever again.

One of the first steps was to remove oneself from an environment that triggered said feelings, so Kyla made quick work of leaving the café where a little kid had begun staring at the veins on her forearm with unguarded horror. She absolutely hated it when people did that, it wasn't her fault she looked monstrous. At least, she didn't think it was.

Kyla was sure once she got back to her father's apartment she would be occupied with some sort of invigorating conversation (note sarcasm) about fate and all that jazz. Now she didn't hate Victor Atkins, not one bit actually, because even though he wasn't what a typical father and should have showed no favoritism he did anyway, and more often than not it was in her favor. Not that her siblings cared all that much. As long as Hilda paid them mind nothing else in the world mattered.

After the divorce Kyla had been split in custody between her mother and father; her mother, the famous doctor in California that had money piles to burn, and her father, the mad scientist who was obsessed with astronomy and the sorts. He had a better living environment to Kyla's standards, even if the apartment was in the bad part of town it was right by Princeton, the college which she was soon to be graduating from. Even though she was of age to be living on her own at the age of twenty five she was considered 'mentally handicapped' despite having better grades than both her siblings combined without even trying. Another perk that came with her diagnosed long term memory loss.

So that was where she currently resides, having just flown in three days ago from Cali to arrive at the seemingly unchanging heart of New Jersey where Kyla could be herself without worry of her mother's constant butchering about standards that needed to be met and all that twaddle. Life had been mundane as it always was in her eyes. She felt as if she was existing without a purpose, almost like she wasn't existing at all, but being nothing around her father was better than being nothing around her strict mother she supposed.

For as long as she could remember Kyla had always been the odd one out. At times she wondered if Hilda wasn't really her mother and her father had an affair, it would explain why she was so different and why said woman hated her. Even at the age of sixteen and up Kyla had been the odd child out of everyone's children - she liked the supernatural a lot, which were only legends in the modern world. To Hilda that was how they should stay, she didn't care if her daughter saw a real life vampire, just as long as she didn't pursue something so crazy as studying the paranormal she would be half-happy. Kyla had been disappointed that her mother didn't support her love for the unknown, especially when one day Hilda found a book concerning small legends (there were very few, as little held factual information) and burned it in front of Kyla. Soon after she dropped the hobby, though she still found the topic undeniably fascinating. How could one not be enthralled by something they couldn't understand? Kyla supposed it was the scientist in her.

Hands stuck deep into the pockets of her coat, Kyla briskly walked back to the dingy apartment with these musings running through her mind. She nodded at the smoking receptionist as she entered, sniffing in the chemical tainted air with a familiarity that said home. The place was dirty and definitely not five star - maybe two if you were being generous - but like the nasty mold that lined the walls Kyla had to admit this place had grown on her. Though it was never good for essay work, or work at all to be honest (it probably never would be either), it was the best place to do nothing and not care at all about it. That was why she loved it so much, it was a place where she could be no one but herself and everyone would be cool with it. Everyone else was druggies anyways, so a struggling student at an Ivy League school was at the bottom of the failure list.

After a short ride in the creaky elevator, Kyla arrived at her father's room on the third floor. It was disorderly in the kitchen, as was the living room - which had a week old pizza sitting in one of the arm chairs - but the rest of the house was quite clean, and considering her dad was milking his money out of some old achievement of his while mom sat on a throne of bills back at the mansion in California, this was paradise. Even if it wasn't that classy it was her home, and she'd have it no other way.

Grabbing an already open bag of chips, Kyla crashed on the couch where the TV was streaming some old news channel that was talking about fruits and vegetables being shaped like real life objects. So far there was a tomato shaped like a rubber duck and two oranges that looked eerily like Beevus and Butthead. Kyla was slightly impressed despite the fact that the news had nothing better to air than this, but either way she wouldn't particularly care what was going on around the world as bad as it sounded. Kyla was having enough of her own problems already to have the whole entire world pile more on her.

She heard her father walking towards her before she saw him. "Good day? Did anything awesome happen?"

"Hm, well I went fishing and caught the lochness monster. Then I went skiing and saw the abominable snowman, we had a snowball fight, then I got coffee with Dracula to warm myself up again." She paused as if to conclude something. "All in all it was a mediocre day." Kyla smiled through her mouthful of chips, her sarcasm causing her father to smile widely as he sat down next to her.

"Sounds utterly interesting...tell me, was Dracula a good coffee companion or was he too arrogant?" Her father played along, Kyla's smile widened as she stretched backwards and set her feet in his lap. She shook her head in a mildly mocking thoughtful way, putting her finger on her chin before answering.

"Charming, but next time he suggested we get dinner instead. He said he'd pay, and I agreed as long as carcass and blood weren't the main courses."

They both laughed at this. Despite Hilda's extreme displeasure at Kyla taking a liking to the supernatural, her father had always been supportive of the hobby, if not completely encouraging her to do everything Hilda had deemed unproductive. Kyla supposed he was always so understanding because he too pursued odd hobbies, because as far as she knew his interest in fate and resurrecting dead things wasn't normal.

"Get any school work done?" Her father asked conversationally, taking the remote that had been laying between them and skipping through the channels in a bored manner.

"Not really, I've been having trouble doing the projects as of late."

"Is it that one where you have to reconstruct an invention?" Kyla nodded and her father scoffed in disgust. "What a stupid project. You are engineers and inventors, not innovators. Recreating something should only be done if there is a dire need for a better version or its just a waste of time. Busy work really, in my opinion."

"There's nothing really new to invent nowadays." Kyla said honestly, earning a quelling look from her father. "What? It's true! Everything has been invented besides time travel or cloning, but that's not possible."

"Not yet it's not," her father - Victor - amended, wagging his finger. "Besides, there is always something new to be discovered. Perhaps you could create an invention that helps you pursue the supernatural, that would totally revolutionize the whole world as we know it."

Kyla sighed, sagging down and into the couch like a deflated balloon. "Any invention I make can't make the myths come to life, you can't find something that doesn't exist."

Her father looked carefully at her, disappointment etched deep into the contours of his sharp features. Despite being in his late forties her father had a rather young air about him, but it was times like these that he looked much older in heart than anything else. "Has your mother really gotten to you?" He asked softly, "I had hoped you'd never lose sight of what you loved, even if it has been said to be wrong."

Kyla suddenly felt angry, not at her father but at how true the words had rung inside her. She'd always yielded like a submissive dog to anyone who'd said what she liked was wrong. She'd always changed to be the image of perfection the world had crafted. Kyla was angry that he was right, so she yanked her feet from his lap and stood up, hands clenched into fists at her side. "It's hard to love something that everyone else hates or doesn't believe in, dad. I wouldn't expect you to understand."

Her father stayed seated, and though he had every right to be angry at how she was releasing her pent up emotion on him he remained collected and seemingly unwavering. "If you love something Kyla no one can get in the way of it, you can't drop something you love because of other people."

"Don't pull that romantic bullshit with me dad, in this world if it isn't accepted then it shouldn't be loved." Kyla said reservedly, turning away from her father so he wouldn't have to see her face. She didn't hear him stand or put his hand on her shoulder, but when she felt it she turned around and looked up at him. Her eyes apologized for her, and his small smile accepted it.

"Sometimes you've got to live in your own world."

Kyla felt sappy as her father pulled her into a hug, but she needed this. She hugged him tightly against her, hearing the faint noise of his beating heart in her ear as she sniffled a bit dramatically into his chest. He squeezed her tightly against him, his arms almost choking the breath out of her. "Sorry 'bout that, I've just been stressed lately. I've been thinking a bit too much on… well, everything." She laughed awkwardly and mostly to herself, "it's just hard living when you feel like you don't fit in at all."

Victor smiled down at his daughter. He would forever cherish these moments of complete innocence and oblivion he shared with her. "Sometimes it feels like you're just living in the wrong place, I understand. There's no need to explain what you feel to me, we're much more similar than you think, trust me. You're as I like to say, an 'old soul'."

Kyla smiled despite herself, "That doesn't begin to cover it, really." They both shared a small laugh before Kyla saw something akin to remembrance flash across her father's face before he spoke to Kyla, this time with a much more serious tone of voice. He hesitantly let her go, either hand on her shoulders as he looked down at her. Kyla could see the reluctance in her eyes, and for a moment she was worried what her father had to say was bad.

"I need you to do something for me, since you can't seem to focus on work this should be the perfect distraction."

Kyla was slightly taken aback by the sudden mood switch, but she would happily distract herself from what just transpired and her school work. Her father undoubtedly supported her wealth of procrastination as well. This so happened to be the perfect exit she was looking for. "Sure, what is it?" She bottled up her other emotions and sounded casual, though now she was curious as to what her father wanted her to do.

"You know Greg from the antique shop?" Kyla nodded, she'd visited many times thanks to her father, it was not an unfamiliar destination for her nor was its owner a stranger. In fact he was the closest thing she had to a romantic life, as pathetic as it sounded, considering he still collected Pokémon and all the sorts. She thought that trade had died a few years ago, but maybe Greg was just an old soul like she was, just in a different area. "He has a book for you, waiting there. It's been pre-paid for so you don't have to bring any money."

Getting up from the chair, Kyla quickly left the apartment, only taking her Android and dad's car keys with her. "See ya later pops!"

Victor Atkins watched his daughter leave with a heavy heart, the cumbersome silence already taking a number on his emotions, even if he had managed to control it earlier. Doing what he's doing had to be the hardest thing he'd had to do in a while, but it was necessary, necessary for the course of her life to go the way it needed to.

He sighed, not answering her good-bye as he turned to the TV with a blank look on his face. He rubbed his cheeks and eyes that stung with un-shed tears. He knew better than Kyla could think about her problems, but hers were about to shift from bad to worse on so many levels that she couldn't begin to fathom. His daughter really was an old soul, but in a much more literal sense than she could understand.

He sighed, leaning back in his chair. He shouldn't have acted like he did, he should have pushed her away and broke all positive ties in this world like he knew he had to. He couldn't though, couldn't bare to make his last memory with her bad. Because deep down he knew that had been the last time he would ever see his daughter again.

* * *

It had started raining not five minutes after Kyla had climbed into the car. She had retrieved the object of her errands with minimal human contact, the less the better it seemed. Even her dear Greg didn't stand a chance to her brooding, and she left as quickly as she could. She decided to just drive around in the outskirts of one of New Jersey's many forests to let herself simmer a bit. She was utterly curious about her father's request, especially considering the book was titled _The Legend of Count Dracula_. She hadn't the chance to look at it yet, but the fact that it was falling apart and held together only by a few scrappy pieces of string that didn't sate her interest.

Her mind dipped with the mood of the weather, her conscious going back to how she'd felt while getting coffee. Her life was utterly uneventful, she'd known that, but right now she was just beginning to really analyze how uneventful it really was. In fact the last thing she could remember doing that was considered half-exciting was saving a hairless cat from a car that was driven by a granny. Even Greg the Pokémon master had a more entertaining life than her, and that was saying something! So far her life had been a blur of expectations. She was told to go somewhere and do something, so she did. There was no objections, no fighting, and yet here she was at the bottom of the food chain for her imminent obedience. It didn't make sense, yet Kyla never had the heart to try otherwise. It felt useless, almost as if she was working towards a goal that would never bring her satisfaction.

Even with a mere sliver of determination she was sure she could change something, perhaps go to court and become her own legal guardian like every twenty five year old should be. Or she could have taken the classes she wanted in college and pursue the supernatural, not the assortment of engineering that was repetitive and too natural for her. Maybe even, she'd have a boyfriend to call her own, a group of friends to hang out with and do stupid stuff with over the weekends.

And then there were her father's encouraging words. He was right, she knew it, but she didn't want to have to realize it. Realize the fact that she wasn't living in this world that wasn't hers. Perhaps she felt this because nothing felt real at the moment, today hadn't just felt right. Usually she laid around, did her work and watched TV, but today hadn't been normal. It felt fake...artificial, almost as if it had been planned out for her.

Kyla sighed, she was suffering from thinking far too much about everything today. That life she imagined didn't feel like the one she wanted, it still felt too fake. Groups of friends hanging out on the weekend? That wasn't her! That wasn't who she was. If she tried, no matter how many rules she broke it wouldn't be real. She'd disappoint her family and in the end, herself, because no matter how much she wished to admit against it she tried to earn her mother's approval at all costs despite her determination to hate Kyla. Why she would seek the sanction of people so horrible to her she would never know, but it felt almost as if she was programmed to be that way.

She was missing the part of her life that shook her to the core, the mid-life crisis that made her see everything from a new perspective. This life she lived didn't feel her own, and now more than ever she realized that this was not where she belonged. These people weren't her people, but then that brought about the question that _who_ was her people? She really should be living in her own world, not this artificial one that just wasn't hers. Her father was right, but how could she get there?

The vibrating of her Android in her pocket shook her from her deep-rooted thoughts, one hand leaving the steering wheel to fish it from her pocket so she could decide whether to answer or ignore. It was her brother, and though every part of her wished to decline the call they both knew she always had her phone with her, and that admittedly she never had anything better to do; so he wouldn't stop calling until she did answer, and wishing to save herself from the insistent vibrating and promptly thorough tongue lashing once she did answer, Kyla spared herself the misery and put the phone to her ear.

"Hello?" She had to restrain herself from being snappy with him, but it was quite hard, she didn't like her brother at all and to him the feelings were mutual.

"Had to wait two rings, I was starting to think you actually were doing something. I stand corrected."

Out of her two siblings, Kyla hated Harrison worst. He was an arrogant know-it-all that had always been mom's favorite, even over her younger sister – the soccer prodigy - Gwen.

Harrison had always gotten what he wanted whether it was woman, a grade, or even the job. Mom's occupation did have a large influence, and as it was so did her money. As a result Harrison was Los Angeles's best Defense Attorney and was making money big time, which only happened to make his already nearly perfect physique so much more appealing to the ladies. That wasn't even touching upon his abnormally inflated ego, either. His life was built because of their mother, the one he still lived with and relied upon despite being thirty-two.

Kyla didn't even try to hide her annoyance now, if she didn't think her day could get any worse she was about to be proved wrong. "What is it exactly that you want? Though I love our little chats," she said with an eerie level of calm, though her voice was dripping with sarcasm. "I'm never up for a waste of time, no matter how deficient you are in considering upon intruding my day."

Her knuckles whitened on the steering wheel as she waited for a reply, the road she drove on leveling out into a thick forest with trees on either side. Amidst her inner battle, Kyla did not notice the lack of signs that usually marshaled the New Jersey roads, trails and all. That was the last thing on her mind however when her brother's cocky voice jerked her already unstable emotions even more off course with his words. "No need to get defensive sis, I'm just making a point you and I all know is true."

Harrison, it seemed, did not know what stop meant. He had effectively poked a very raw wound before rubbing salt in it. She was already having doubts of herself, she didn't need her brother to

"I'm not getting defensive, just annoyed. I'll give you the benefit of the doubt and assume you called me for a reason other than to annoy me, so spill."

"Is a big brother not allowed to call his younger sister just cos'?"

"They are, in fact that's normal, however our relationship is far from normal so get on with it." Kyla snapped, now too impatient and emotionally unstable to care to hide her annoyance at the situation at hand.

Harrison huffed, obviously put off by her forth-righteousness but refused to yield. "A letter got sent here addressed to you, well it's not really a letter or of much importance, but mom said I needed to tell you what it said, though why I don't know."

Kyla ignored his near patronizing tone of voice, her curiosity tilting her mood in a better direction. A letter? Who would have possibly sent her a letter? And why not to New Jersey? "What does it say?"

There was a pause before Harrison answered, his tone slightly cryptic. " _A game begun is better lost in passion than won in anger._ "

Kyla actually had to sit back in her seat, car slowing as the words were continuously repeated in her mind. That was not the answer she'd anticipated, in fact it only managed to rattle her more, and her curiosity doubled as she mulled over the words in her head, searching for a meaning or why she'd received them. "What?" She murmured to herself, honestly confused before addressing Harrison again. "Who's it from?"

There was a sound of the phone being manhandled on the other end and the slight sound of paper crumbling. "Doesn't have a name on it, only a return address."

Kyla rolled her eyes a bit impatiently, "Which is?"

"Six three six Geneva, Switzerland. There's a weird red wax seal too, kinda old-timey looking but the symbol on it is quite odd. It's a star with some bull horns... I think? Yeah those are definitely bull horns and some other weird symbols in and around it. I can't particularly make them out, but there's a cross in the background too, but it's a pretty intricate design for such a small seal." He paused, "You know someone from Switzerland, right?"

Kyla sighed, feeling an odd coiling inside her stomach. "I'm afraid I don't."

"Are you like studying witchcraft or something? I mean I know you were interested in that kind of stuff but I didn't think you'd actually, y'know, do it."

Kyla's teeth grit unhealthily together, her family was bound to think the worst of her, weren't they? Her brother, like her mother, had always looked down upon her hobbies, especially that concerning things that were said to not be real. Anger coursed through Kyla, she needed to control it. Rage felt like the backdoor in instances like these, sometimes Kyla felt it was the only thing she could truly feel consistently, yet somehow she always managed to keep it in check. As of late that had been harder.

The rain poured insistently harder on the canopies of the trees that covered her car, but Kyla's mind was not on the weather, not even when an angry crack of lightning ripped across the sky followed by a booming thunder that shook the Earth and all its realities to the very core.

She didn't have time to retort, for Harrison jumped in again after the thunder made itself known, not that her clenched jaw would have permitted it anyway. "Was that lightning I hear? Tsk, tsk, sister, you are supposed to be inside!" Oh how he loved to antagonize her, first with the patronizing and now with the knowing, motherly tone that his parent of choice always adopted with Kyla. He knew it irked her so much, and yet she'd never done anything to stop it so he always insisted. "Mother would not be happy with you if she knew… with the hazard of being electrocuted, you know, with all that metal inside you."

Kyla felt if she let anymore anger bottle inside her steam would start pouring out her ears. No matter how hard she had screwed on the lid nothing would have stopped it popping off under the pressure applied right now. Today it felt like she'd been carrying a ticking bomb on her, and the time had finally run out. "Is there not a conversation where you can't bring up mother? Or are you so reliant upon her that you can't live without bringing her up? I may not have an entertaining, tabloid filled life like you, Harrison, but at least my life doesn't rotate about my mom."

Those venom laced words managed to shut her brother up, and before he could fire anything back and she would lose her slipping cool she hung up the phone and threw it into the empty car seat beside her. Though short, the conversation with her brother had managed to send her thinning sanity into a more rapid downward spiral. Combined with the previous events of today, Kyla could conclude that today had, in fact, been not only the worst day of her life, but the most ground breaking one as well. Everything that had transpired so far seemed to be working against her like some machine, trying to convey the message that had been nagging at her for as long as she could remember, yet it only became clear just now. But she was also utterly confused, a letter from an anonymous woman? Though it seemed unconnected to everything that happened, a small part of her did not wish and would not cave to that reassurance no matter how many times she repeated it in her head.

Another crack of lightning flashed across the ominous sky, illuminating the interior of the car and causing a flash of blue to ricochet from the leather bound book and into her line of sight. Her grip on the wheel lessened considerably as she looked at the book, her brow furrowed as she tried to recall if it had really glowed like she thought it had upon the strike of lightning. Her mind was cleared, or rather occupied with other thoughts than what had plagued her mind before.

As far as she knew the book was made of leather, and leather didn't glow naturally even with lightning striking as consistently as it was now. She shook her head, trying to remove those thoughts from her brain and the tears that had welled in her eyes.

Kyla's tear-filled eyes widened and she jerked the steering wheel to the left upon seeing a deer sprint across the road, she narrowly missed it, skidding on the wet road and effectively causing her tires to burn out on the ground. She was off the road now, but what was more concerning than being off course was the tufts of smoke the peaked from under the hood of her car. Grabbing her Android, headphones, and the book, Kyla fled from the car, putting space between her and the vehicle as an ominous feeling settled in her stomach. She knew it was very hard to get a car to explode unlike how it was portrayed in movies, however she just knew something good wasn't going to come out of this, realistic or not. And as if on cue the car burst into flames, crackling before the front exploded with a boom! and reared up dramatically.

She gaped for a moment at her father's car, now up in flames and probably cut in half from the blow of the detonation. Her stomach sank as the rain poured mercilessly harder, though the water never put out the flames to the fire they managed to simmer any happiness she had left. Today really was a load of crap.

Deciding it would not do her well to get hypothermia and jinx herself more than she had, Kyla began walking home, or rather through the thick forest that provided minimal coverage from the rain along the path of the road.

Her mind was scattered, floating between thinking of everything and nothing until she settled for moping like a child would. It felt natural to question god's reasoning for doing this. She always went to church on Sundays, always said her prayers and never faltered in her beliefs. Not that she had a choice really - her father had always pushed her towards god.

Then the thought struck her like the lightning above, she'd only gone to church because her father had wanted her to. She'd only gone to school as an engineer because her mother wanted her to, only dropped her fascination with the supernatural because the world said it wasn't real. She'd only ever done anything because someone else had said what she wanted to do was wrong. She could blame the whole world for her life but in the end even if they were her ultimate influence it was up to her, up to her whether or not their words really meant anything.

Another crack of lightning colored the sky, the book responding with a shake and glow that went unnoticed by Kyla who was staring dutifully ahead. Her life had been a myriad of days like today, tied together and so consistent that she wondered why today even felt significantly different than the rest. Maybe because something had actually happened today, or the thought that something more could. The rest of what she remembered was nothing of real notice. In fact her life had been utterly insignificant and boring. She went through the motions, passed every test, tried to please the people around her no matter how much she convinced herself she didn't care. The rules in her life were her cage, and she never tried to leave it. She never questioned her position or usefulness, or the fact that she had not changed someone's life drastically or done something, anything worth living for. Her life had been a black and white picture so far, everything so simple and spelled out for her. All she had to do was the follow the path other's paved for her and she would be successful, content. But she wasn't, she had been neither so far.

The story that was her life had been written for her, her life was a game of chess that had been played by others her whole existence. Was she bound to do this? To be a pawn in her own life? No, this life wasn't hers. Kyla was sure that even though she'd lived her life it was not her own story. She hadn't created it or even lived sixteen years of it, this tale was too simple - without plot.

Kyla felt an overwhelming surge of emotion flood through her, like the floodgates had burst and was now threatening to drown her reality in surprise. They were overbearing, insistent, and burned at her insides. Yet they did not feel her own. Water stung in her eyes, anger shook her clenched fists, and sorrow heaved her chest. Lightning threatened to claim the sky once more as _The Legend of Dracula_ began to glow a mix of blue and purple. It shook in her hands, but Kyla was too overwhelmed with thought and emotion to notice the disturbance. Power erupted in her body through her emotion, then the book was forced open in her hands, and the handwritten words flashed in sync with the strike of lightning and the twenty first century was no more.


	2. A Change in Setting

**I'll leave this AN short and sweet for everyone because there's not much to say. I was just recently busy with the beginning of school and the soccer season, but I managed this chapter and I'm quite happy with it. Here is where things begin to come together and change from the previous story, so everyone enjoy! Also, since it's new and everything, there will probably be some more grammar mistakes. Nothing big hopefully, but please overlook it if it's bad. Otherwise very little was kept from previous chapters, and what was has been tweaked, so I would advise reading everything over again. Also please leave a review if you enjoyed or didn't!- I'm open for concrit always.**

 **This chapter is for** _MissVD,_ **since you always manage to encourage and support me. Thanks a million! :)**

 **Hopefully my next chapter will be out soon, my muse is booming for this story so i'm hoping for more, but be wary, since school started I may not have as much time. I appreciate everyone's patience in advance.**

 **-Dev**

* * *

 **CHECKMATE**

—

"most gods throw dice, but fate plays chess, and you don't find out

til too late that he's been playing with two queens all along"

—

2

;;a Change in Setting

After Dracula's suspicions festered for a mere five minutes he found himself back in Frankenstein's laboratory – or rather, Frankenstein's old laboratory. It was now technically his again due to the Doctor's abrupt passing.

The Count was unaware of the whereabouts of the troll, Igor, which he had employed with bribery, but he supposed the nearly brainless creature would be of no use to him anyways. He was determined to find answers and though he didn't know where to look he was sure only he could find them.

His spidery fingers ran through his pulled back hair, the tresses that had freed themselves from his ponytail waving rebelliously in his face as an unmistakable wave of frustration washed over him. He had no idea where to start, not when Victor, being the Doctor he was, had left no specific clue of where to look. He was completely unorganized and sporadic, unlike the Count and his thoroughly planned out daily itinerary.

A curse escaped his lips in his mother tongue as he stalked to the mess of papers on the main work table in the laboratory, most, he noticed, were singed beyond eligibility or were useless to him. It seemed Victor had underlying doubts in the Count, but judging by his overly anxious actions prior to his death Dracula knew there was something here worth looking for.

It seemed all in vain however. Every paper he found with promise of being useful ended up being completely irrelevant or rather selective notes on things Dracula was sure no one would grasp save for the recently deceased Doctor.

In a sudden surge of rage Dracula slammed his fists on the wooden tabletop and watched as all the papers jump from the table after the force of the impact. Steam would have been coming out of Dracula's ears had it been possible, but instead his lips curled in a sneer that showed off two glistening fangs. The cowardly mortal doctor should not be able to hide anything so easily from him, but he'd done just that and so much more. Rage grew like a weed inside Dracula as he thought of Victor's betrayal before his own. Oh how things just backfired sometimes, Karma really was a bitch.

It was then in his cloud of anger that he saw a blotch of red stand out amongst the varying shades of white and gray around it. All negative emotion was subdued as Dracula snatched the seemingly unopened letter from the air. There were faint fingerprints on the envelope itself, but the seal was intact still. It seemed Victor had been reluctant to open it, almost as if he already had known what lay inside. Dracula smirked as he took off the seal, too happy to note the star shaped crest on the front as he smoothly unfolded the paper and read the short letter that was addressed to Victor.

 _Victor,_

 _Time's up, Eve will return and face her fate. Nothing you could have done would prevent this, though I must thank you for the cooperation while it lasted._

 _H.B._

Dracula expected something more, something that would direct his thoughts to a more specific area and help him determine just how Victor had betrayed him. This letter did nothing of the sort, in fact it only made more questions rise in him as he thought hard on any person he knew with the initials HB. None came to mind, but Dracula made a mental note to check his archives and - if necessary - blood memories later. For now he would have to investigate anyone who may know of this HB person, and the only person Dracula was aware Victor had ties to was Igor. Dracula scowled to himself, the last thing he wanted was to talk to that dunderheaded troll, but he would endure the thing's stupidity for the sake of his progeny.

"IGOR!" Dracula roared, shaking the castle with the power behind his summoning. It was not a few moments later that he heard a faint shuffling from a space hidden to his left. Dracula turned to where he saw a shadow appear from behind a hanging sheet before Igor came into sight in all his hunched glory, an apron covering his front.

His scraggly hair flopped as he bowed his head before he spoke in the deep rasp that was his voice. "You called, master?"

The Count wasted no time into getting to the point, "It has come to my attention that Victor had an association with someone outside of my knowledge, they sent them this letter and I want to know who it is. You were Victor's closest confidant and if anyone is to know who this person is it would be you." As sad as it is to have to say that Dracula thought sourly, his lip curling up slightly in disgust as Igor rubbed his large and mangled hands together.

"A letter?"

"Yes a letter," Dracula said, exasperated. Patience was a virtue he couldn't spare for ignorant creatures like this but Dracula was determined to endure. He held out the envelope that had the short letter tucked inside, but Igor only hobbled backwards.

"I cannot read master, the doctor never required me to." Dracula's frustration grew as his fist clenched at Igor's words, he didn't know whether to be irked more at the fact the Igor seemed completely useless or the fact that he'd been so all along but Dracula hadn't been privy to it.

The Count turned, bringing a hand to his face and rubbing it in exasperation before pinching the bridge of his nose. It was very hard for someone with an ego of his size to realize that Victor had outdid him at his own devious game - in fact Victor had played a whole nother game, a game that Dracula was going to end. Effective immediately. He had a hunch that if Victor had tried to keep this Eve and HB secret they were of great importance and could help further Dracula's plans. His hunches were nearly always right. "I assume that also means you are not privy to any of the other relationships Victor has?" Igor shook his head and Dracula felt as if a vein would pop in his neck as a tick formed in his jaw. "Is there anything you can tell me that proves you are not completely lacking of purpose?"

There was a pause as Igor looked thoughtful, and for a moment Dracula mused that the troll would beg for his life, and being the gracious man he was Dracula would end his pathetic existence quickly. "The Doctor was always writing, I never knew what but I did know not all of it was about Adam."

One of Dracula's brows shot up, it seemed the troll wasn't completely ignorant to everything but his well-being as he first suspected. "Adam?"

"The Frankenstein Monster," Igor clarified, large head shaking as he spoke in his hoarse voice. "The Doctor was a very religious man - "

"So he created a monster, a monster that triumphed god and named him Adam. How ironic..." Suddenly it clicked, Adam and Eve - the first two people born in the Hebrew scripture. So this Eve was also close to Victor, possibly an ally in which he dedicated his work to. Surely she would be of great assistance in helping further the progeny, as Dracula was sure Victor would not take the chance of going behind his back for a petty woman. He feared for his life and work far too much. Dracula tapped his chin, humming in thought. "Where would these writings be, I wonder?" But Igor was shuffling away, not wishing to be subject to his master's quick temper if he proved to be of little use and became the target once more.

"Well," Dracula began dramatically, clapping his gloves hands together. "In the meantime you are to continue reconstructing the initial foundation of Victor's machine. I expect progress, and quickly."

Igor nodded his head vigorously, "Of course master. I will not let you down."

Then Igor left the Count alone once more, and Dracula looked down at the paper in his hand. "No, I suppose you won't. Not if you wish to live."

He re-read it, the new information that had clicked at the forefront of his mind. Dracula needed more than a single letter though, and as the troll said, Victor had many of them. It was only a matter of searching and finding.

The Count looked at the pile of papers that had been thrown about amidst his anger and sighed, it seemed he would have to look through all of them, and considering how small Victor's writing was and that his notes filled the front and back of every page. It would be like trying to find a needle in a haystack! Dracula grabbed a handful and began looking through them, the troll had better hope he was right, because if nothing of use to him was in this pile the Count would know no mercy. He may have all the time in the world being immortal and all, but his patience was not so gracious, nor were the enemies that seek to destroy him and all he wished to accomplish.

It was still hard for the Count to come to terms with the fact that Victor had done all of this behind his back, but he was determined to squash and plans if only to avenge his pride. Whatever Victor was up to had to be beneficial to the Count as well, and Dracula was resolved in his mission to find out just what it was.

* * *

Before the world came into focus, Kyla felt the cold seep into her bones, a shiver running through her as a result when a couple of jumbled voices pierced the foggy cloud that separated her brain from reality. There was an itching in her forearms, but she found she couldn't move or speak, let alone try and scratch a fierce itch. She knew there were people in the room with her, but she couldn't find it in herself to even peel an eye open to look where she was laying down. Because it was uncomfortable as hell. She felt like she was laying on a stack of bricks and had a rock as a pillow. Her body protested vehemently to that, and her state of paralyzation wasn't helping it either.

"Do you think she's dead?" A voice asked, slightly fuzzy as it clouded in with her muddled brain. Kyla moved in an attempt to contradict that statement, though it was only a slight twitch of her fingers before her eyes allowed action and began blinking rapidly to adjust to the extremely dim lighting.

"Oh shush, I think she's up." The voice was soft and definitely very feminine.

"Sh, she may still be sleeping." This was another woman, the feminine quality gave it away, she sounded almost comforting with every syllable, and sort of how a mother would. But her voice wasn't hoarse or deep enough like a mother's would be - it was definitely matured, but not with experience.

"No, she's definitely up, look, she's blinking." Kyla wasn't sure if it was a guy or a girl, the voice was high pitched but seemed too deep to be a woman despite its soprano like quality. Why was she trying to examine the pitches of these voices, anyways?

"Damn, she better be waking up, it's been a day and a half!"

A day and a half? Kyla moaned, it hadn't felt like that long, it had felt like barely an hour. She just wanted to sleep more.

"Took her long enough, wonder how she got in the woods like she did."

"Maybe if you stopped talking she would be up sooner, god knows you've probably confused the lass more than she already is! Poor girl almost caught a cold."

"That's usually what happens when you sleep out in the snow in the middle of winter, Jules."

"Arthur!"

"He's right sis, still wonder what she was doing out there though."

The woman sighed, and Kyla took the submission of her defender as a cue to 'wake up'. She hated when people talked about her like she wasn't in the room even if she was playing possum, but their insistent blabbering was only jumbling her already confused brain. Their accents weren't helping much either. It was thick and sounded rich with an eastern-European lilt to it. Her eyes finally came in clutch and they opened fully, taking in her surroundings in one big sweep. She blinked again, rubbing her eyes as she noted the candles, wooden structure, and duly dressed occupants of the cozy room. It looked like a reenactment of an old movie, and for a second Kyla briefly entertained the thought that she was dreaming when a pounding sensation built behind her eyes, growing in her head with a merciless drum that beat inside her skull. It was throbbing, and it was painful, but she noticed the room melt away along with the old-fashioned dressed people and the image was replaced with something new yet oddly familiar.

Gray flooded Kyla's eyes, first a misty cloud before it swirled into shape, becoming a solid structure around her - under her. She was still laying on something cold, but everything was different. The room was colder, the air heavier with oppression - thick with the stench of sweat. A sudden wave of fatigue had even washed over her in the spur of the moment, so thick it was that she couldn't bring it in herself to move.

Something was sitting on her chest, Kyla was sure of it- an elephant maybe? It sounded preposterous but when such weird things had been happening who was she to say an elephant on her chest wasn't possible? But her eyes - half lidded mind you - were not betraying her when she saw nothing was on her stomach, nor were they imagining anything when they say her father was crouching over her with a worried expression on his face. Perhaps the meeting with the people in the wooden room had been a dream and she was waking up from it, but she knew it wasn't.

This man in front of her who resembled her father in nearly every manner was not her father. They may have looked alike, but she could tell merely from being in his presence it was not the same man. Not the one she had come to love and to know, it felt the same but at the same time didn't.

The carbon copy of her father furrowed his brow, leering closer into her face like he was studying her for some experiment. Worry was etched into every crease of his face, but worry for what she wondered. She didn't know, and she was afraid to find out. "I'm sorry, I don't want to do this but it's for the best, you have to believe me." He trailed off with eyes glazed over in un-shed tears, he looked odd crying, awkward almost. But Kyla's chest constricted in hurt and shared sorrow, something was pressing on the forefront of her mind- images she'd never seen before but couldn't begin to realize. He placed a sloppy kiss on her forehead before drawing back and muttering hysterically under his breath.

Everything was so real, so vivid and so emotional that she felt as if she'd already lived this before.

Kyla tried to free herself from the imaginary bonds that held her, that paralyzed her body and dulled her senses to the point of blurriness that they now reached. What was he talking about? What was that feeling of familiarity, like she was so close to the truth yet a world apart from it?

"Please, Eve, you'll have to forgive me, I never meant for it to be this way. You must believe me." He let out a half sob, grabbing her hand the felt like it was filled with sand and pressing a sloppy kiss to her knuckles. "It has to be this way though, god forgive me, Oh god…" He backed away, sobbing more into his hands as he neared a control panel on the far wall. Kyla tried to sit up to get a better glimpse of what he was doing but couldn't manage to move. Who the hell was Eve?

Her head lolled to the side, my eyes, though lidded, caught a painting, the only colorful thing on the otherwise gray backdrop. It took a bit of squinting, but Kyla watched a mural move before her very eyes. It was of a beautiful red and black dragon that was struck down by a flash of blue. She realized it was a crack of lightning, but then- something else had happened, or was happening before the room was consumed in a thick, crackling blue and it was changed back to the small room that was occupied with four people.

Said people looked extremely concerned and appalled as Kyla quickly sat upright, blood rushing to her head as she sucked in quick tufts of air before spitting them back out from the power of that… _what even was that? A vision? A memory? A really fucked up dream?_ She didn't know.

"Oh god Arthur, the girl's gone completely bonkers…" The young boy with the high pitched boy exclaimed in a whisper, his eyes wide as saucers as if he's never seen a person freak out before. It would be odd considering they were in Transylvania, a place with monsters and the sorts - a fact that also evaded Kyla's knowledge at the moment.

"Stop that, Anton, the poor woman's woke up in an unfamiliar place." The older woman, who was defending Kyla to her delight, smacked whom Kyla believed to be her little brother. "She probably hit her head too, be polite about it."

"You always've gotta expect the worst, that's what Papa always said. She could be working with him for all we know." The boy - Anton - said, indigent, arms crossed over his chest and nose stuck up in the air haughtily.

"She obviously doesn't work for him, why would she show up at our house if she did?" Juliana (who's nickname was Jules) fired back smartly, causing the boy to turn red in the ears. He opened his mouth to reply, but Kyla had enough of them talking like she wasn't there.

"I can assure you I have no idea who this 'him' is, and therefore have no relations to him whatsoever." Her voice was firm and confident, albeit a bit dry, but she managed to keep a strong façade on. This was new to her - the boldness she possessed, but now it didn't feel out of place. It felt natural unlike how it had in New Jersey, it felt like it was there the whole time - _wait. Had? Are you implying that we're not in New Jersey anymore, brain?_

Everyone in the room turned to look at her, and Kyla felt her courage shrink under all their gazes. "They're talking about Dracula," One answered in a hush voice. He was tall, tall and strong with broad shoulders and scruffy blonde hair that was tied back in a sloppy ponytail. He looked to be the eldest of them all, and judging by his size, the strongest as well.

The girl gasped while the younger boy tried to suppress his flinch at hearing the name. Kyla just looked confused, what were these people on? Then again, if this was her dream like she thought it was, what the hell was she on?

"Arthur! You can't just say his name! Mother and father forbid it!" The girl patronized in a similar volume, glaring at her older brother as Kyla sat back and watched them talk, dizzy from bewilderment.

"She would find out soon enough, he's probably the one who did this to her." Arthur said simply, shrugging nonchalantly as he came further into the small room. It was very crowded, but no one seemed to mind much do Kyla tried to ignore it as well.

"Uh, sorry to interrupt but no one did anything to me, especially not -" Kyla was reluctant to say his name for the sake of her sanity, " - Count Dracula. I crashed my car and woke up here." Kyla said, watching as everyone in the room exchanged confused glances. _Perhaps these people are Amish? It would explain the overall choice of style. Kyla bit her lip for a second, but there aren't any Amish people in New Jersey…_ "Where is here exactly?"

The girl looked at Kyla with sympathy, bending down and grabbing one of her hands and encasing them in both of hers. "You are in our home." She paused, gesturing to the people around her. Kyla assumed they were all family, but now it had been confirmed. "I'm sure you are very confused, there was a rather nasty cut on your head and some burn marks on your wrists and stomach. You must be very tired and thirsty, why don't you get some water?"

Kyla didn't answer, in fact after she first heard the eldest girl's answer she could only sit and stare at her like a gaping fish. She felt sick suddenly, dizzy and with a lump in her throat that prevented speech. She tried to make words, but her tongue wouldn't move in accordance with what she wanted to say. "T-transylvania?" She whispered, head spinning as she said the word. Was this some kind of joke? It had to be, but still her mouth seemed perfectly disconnected from her brain. "What year is it?"

The question, though off topic from what the Amish-looking-girl has asked, was simple yet befuddling. This caught her off guard, she had been expecting her guest to ask other questions, not the year. "The year is 1886."

Kyla almost burst out crying right then. 1886?! 1886?! My god! That was nearly one hundred and thirty years ago! Kyla gulped, her mind clouded and unable to make solid thought. "How? W-what?" she murmured to herself, body shaking as she tried to process the information.

The girl looked compassionately down at Kyla, rubbing the hand she'd ensnared encouragingly in her own. She tried to hush her, to help her through this, but she couldn't begin to fathom what Kyla was feeling - she would never understand. Which was why touching the girl only made Kyla more frantic. Her touch was so real, her words so laced with concern that she felt them trying to soothe away at her. This wasn't a joke, she knew it deep down. This was real… Every touch and rub confirmed that. "You'll be alright…" The girl trailed off, "We'll take care of you."

Kyla wanted to cry, she was back in time with a family that she didn't know. She would probably never see her family again and she would most likely die with no one to care about her. But who would care about her if she had been in the twenty first century? Most likely no one still, save for her father. He would care, but he was her father he was supposed to. Not that her mom would either, but that was besides the point. No one would care what would happen to her, no one would know. Somehow she'd gone back in time and only she would know.

Unconsciously tears had streamed down her face, and when she realized they had come raining down she began sobbing uncontrollably. The girl tried to hush her, but her kind words fell on deaf ears, and slowly everyone began to leave the room to lend her privacy to cry. It was most likely too awkward to stand, but before the door shut something was placed next to Kyla on the bed. With her knees tucked into her chest and face buried in them she cried, unseeing of the gift on the bed next to her, unfeeling of how her cold shirt clung to her body despite the warm blankets draped over her.

Kyla couldn't think very well, couldn't see past the blurred tears in her eyes or feel beyond the stinging in her chest. Her head began to throb from all the crying, but she couldn't stop doing it. There was an itching pain on her stomach and wrists too, but it had been dulled by the numbness that had swept throughout her body. She didn't feel alive in the moment, she felt as if she was existing on another plane of existence all alone.

It was like that which she stayed for hours, the sun falling quickly and moon rising in it's place. No one came to check on her, and Kyla was thankful. She didn't want anyone to have to see her in this sorry state, especially if they were going to let her live there for an undetermined amount of time.

In those few, long hours Kyla managed to gather herself and her thoughts. This was not a good predicament to be in, but she needed to live, _had_ to be optimistic about what she was facing. It was hard enough to realize she'd gone back in time, but to have to also accept that these people believed in Count Dracula, or even worse - that he was in fact real, was hard to fully comprehend. But she'd managed to wrap her head around the idea no matter how much she wished to deny its resounding truth.

Kyla uncurled from the fetal position she'd adopted, her legs moaning at the movement as blood began to flow to her limbs. It was then that she realized there was another occupant of her bed: a book. After picking it up and reading the familiar cover Kyla closed her eyes in defeat. It had read _The Legend of Count Dracula_. Kyla had resigned to complaining about her circumstances anymore, in this world she was no one, had no one to care for. But that also meant she had the opportunity to reshape her legacy, to be more than what she had been - living under her family's legacy, unrecognized by anyone as more than a failure. She could do anything and no one could harm anyone but her. It was liberating to know that only she could bear the brunt of her actions, and it was completely empowering as well.

Kyla got off the bed, also noticing the pile of clothes that had been laid on a small chair next to her bed. Kyla stripped, happily ridding herself of the damp shirt and jeans that had clung to her like a second skin. She ignored the bandages on her stomach and wrists as she pulled a shirt and pants on, she didn't want to relapse into sorrow, so she would ignore it until she was ready to face it. Thankfully though they'd gotten her pants instead of an infernal dress, though the pants were far too large and made her look like a hippy. She rolled the waistband up a few times so she wouldn't trip over herself before hiding the book under the pillow and heading downstairs. She needed to share her thanks, but she didn't want anyone to become suspicious of her from her choice of reading material.

The trip from her room downstairs was short. The house was very small and creaky, so she was sure they heard her before she'd even made it down the wooden stairs that threatened to give under every cautiously placed step. Kyla trudged to the kitchen, she imagined she was quite the sight for the six people that looked up at her entrance - all wearing a myriad of expressions. she'd met four, they were the ones who'd been in the room with her, and the other two were sitting at the head of either side of the table, gray peppering their hair. Kyla assumed these were the parents, and she smiled wearily at both of them before speaking. "May I take up that offer of some water now?" Her voice was dry and gravelly completely unfamiliar even to herself, but the girl who'd offered her the refreshment giggled slightly and nodded to the chair beside her.

"Why not have a bite to eat, too? Ma and Pa would be honored to have you dine with us." Kyla nodded, she wouldn't want to disrespect these kind people when they let a very odd stranger in their home. She sat walked over to her assigned seat and sat down, head raised to meet the eyes that were gazing curiously at her.

"Stop your staring," the mother - who was seated to Kyla's left - admonished, everyone turning their heads to their plates, the father included. It seemed the only ones who hadn't been staring at her had been the mother and the girl beside her. "Forgive them,we don't have guests often. Especially not such a pretty one."

Kyla cringed internally, trying to hide the blush that had crept up her cheeks despite herself. She piled some food onto her plate, finding she was actually quite famished. She had never called herself pretty, pretty odd maybe, but definitely not just flat out pretty.

"Thank you, for that...and everything else. It means a lot that you would take me into your lovely home despite being a stranger."

The elder woman chuckled lightly, sipping on her drink before replying warmly. "I wouldn't call our home lovely, but it's home and that's what matters. But if you truly want someone to thank you should thank Julianna, she is the one who asked that you stay until you were better." The woman leaned in, and Kyla mirrored the action out of curiosity. "Besides Arthur, she is her father's favorite, he couldn't say no to her." The woman leaned back and winked at Kyla who in turn thanked Julianna.

"It was my pleasure," The girl replied, "Pa was happy to comply despite Anton's misgivings." Said boy glared at Kyla on cue. Julianna told Kyla to ignore her brother, and the blonde haired girl thought she would come to like the independent woman quickly. She was very nice and the only reason that she hadn't been kicked to the curb yet. "But there is no need to worry about that, we are happy to have you as your guest."

Kyla took a bite of her food, nodding almost awkwardly as everyone stared at her. Was she doing something wrong? Kyla almost choked as another thought popped into her head, _they want to know your name you idiot_. Kyla felt stupid as she choked down the food. "My name is Kyla, and I'm sorry about the earlier...incident, I don't remember how I got into the woods or what happened."

"It's quite alright," the mother said, "You did have a rather nasty cut on your head when we took you in, but I managed to clean it and all. I'm Cecil by the way, and this is my youngest son Anton, my oldest son Arthur, my younger daughter Decima, my husband David, and you of course already know Julianna." Kyla made a mental note of who everyone was, she'd never been very good at names but she hoped she could easily memorize these people's for the sake of hospitality. "You can stay as long as you need, but we'll need some help around the house. We aren't the best off family and the more helping hands the better."

Kyla nodded, she didn't know if anything she was particularly good at could help any of them but she would have to try. Living would not be easy if she had lots of questions and no one to answer them. She took a deep breath, her stomach feeling queasy as she looked at her food. With all the questions whirring in her mind she suddenly felt not so hungry anymore, the nauseous feeling returning in her stomach and ridding any want to eat.

Kyla gathered her courage, looking down at her plate as she tried to speak nonchalantly. "What do you all know about Count Dracula?"

There was a couple of concerning sounds all at once. First there was a few choking, and then there was the resounding sound of silverware falling onto plates and tabletops. Kyla knew the question had been brash and out of the blue, but it was something that had to be addressed.

"We don't speak of 'im at this table girly, in fact we don't speak of 'im at all. So don't go around poking your nose in business that ain't yours." It was the first Kyla had heard the father of the family speak, his voice was gruff and deep, hardened from years of hard work and pain. He obviously didn't want to speak of it, and though usually Kyla would have relented, she would not now. She needed to know.

"It is my business if I'm going to live her a while, I already know a little, like what he is...but I don't know much else. And I think that if I am going to stand against him that I should know what I'm up against." Kyla replied, all forms of resignation gone from her voice as she stared the older man in the eye. He seemed surprised, but then he let out a sharp bark of laughter.

"You think you gonna stand up against him? I admit, I admire your heart, but it's misplaced girl. He's a vampire, and you're just a little girl. What're you gonna do to stop the Devil's Son?"

"Whatever I can," Kyla replied, intent on proving her point. "He needs blood, right? So where does he get it from? I'm pretty sure there are no willing diners, so he takes it." She looked to Julianna for confirmation, and the girl hesitantly nodded. Kyla wasn't sure why she was feeling so angry, but the thought of her newfound freedom being squashed by what should be only a legend melted her usual easygoing manner. "What if he picks from your family? Are you just going to sit back and watch them die in front of your eyes?"

The man was red to the tips of his ears, but he didn't raise his voice beyond a level that he hadn't already reached. "I've seen my father die from that monster, no one else is going to die as well."

Kyla felt relieved, she didn't want to pick a fight with such a large man, especially since he had his whole family of six on his side. "I just want to know about him, I'm not saying I want to fight him, but I may be able to help you all if you tell me."

At the moment that was the best card Kyla had, and she watched as David slowly thought over Kyla's proposal. The gears were turning visibly behind his eyes, and then finally, after what felt like days of silence, he spoke. "Decima, take Anton upstairs, the adults are going to talk for a while. Arthur you and Julianna can choose to stay or go, same for you my wife."

"But father - " Anton whined, only to be quickly shut up by his father.

"Go."

Decima and Anton left, the girl wrapping an arm around her slumped brother's shoulders as she led him away. No one else made a move to leave, and Kyla sat on the edge of her seat as David rubbed his face in defeat. "What d'ya want to hear lass? I can't tell ya much, but I'll tell ya what I can."

"Anything is good with me, tell me anything and everything you know." Kyla replied, barely containing her excitement. She earned a few poorly hidden glances of bewilderment, but she was past the point of caring how odd she looked.

"There's not a solid beginning, only rumors that've circulated around turn since my great grandfather was a babe. Dracula's been here for a long while, 'e'll probably stay here for a while longer if I know anything, too. The man's got three wives, a blazing red head named Aleera. 'En there's Markisha, she's blonde and nasty, all for the chase that one is, but very flirty too. Many men have fallen victim to her tricks. Lastly there is the uh, black haired one named." David trailed off for a moment, scratching his chin in deep thoughts. "Ver… Ver…"

"Verona." Cecil supplied.

"Yeah, Verona. She ain't 'at bad compared to the other two, but she's still a vampire, so you've got to be wary. Those three 'ill do anything for Dracula, and usually they come around once a month to pick off some people to feed on. As far as I know it's always been that way, we live here, we grow, they kill. Nobody's ever gone against it, but as far as I know they've only got a couple o' weaknesses: silver, anything holy, n' their emotions. One second they're teasin' yah and the next they're angry as can be.

"They've also got werewolves under their command, don' know how, but the things'll do anythin' for Dracula as well. I think he's got three right now, but usually it's just the two of 'em. Nobody knows where his castle is, but up on a hill over yonder is the Frankenstein castle. A monster was made there by the Doctor Victor Frankenstein himself, but he's dead and so is the beast. We townsfolk made sure of that. We think 'e's been in a league with Dracula as well, but nobody knows for sure."

"Is there like...I don't know, a library or something with information on Dracula?" Kyla asked hopefully.

David quickly shook his head. "'Ere used to be, but Dracula burned it down, the remains are safe in the Valerious castle."

The name struck a chord in Kyla, she'd heard that name before, if only briefly. Kyla was beginning to feel antsy, being in a room with all these people, listening to a scary story while everyone was silent, listening in as well. It was slightly unnerving. "Valerious?"

For a moment David looked torn between laughing and face palming, but he soon clarified his indecision by speaking. "I almost forgot about 'em! The Valerious family are royalty 'ere, and they are also monster slayers. They date back to before Dracula existed, in fact if the stories are true then Valerious the Elder is the one who started the hunt for Dracula. Since then the family has been bound to kill 'im, but have been unsuccessful. Many have died in their voyage to do so, but they're the only reason not everyone here is dead, so we owe 'em a lot."

Kyla nodded, and David leaned back in his chair, crossing both of his meaty, hairy arms over his chest. "I think that's enlighten story time for tonight, get lots of rest; the work begins tomorrow."

"Of course, thank you." Kyla replied slowly, standing up from the chair in what felt like slow motion. Arthur excused himself, but Julianna grabbed her hand and led her away. Before she exited the room she looked back, watching as the couple stare into each other's eyes, both conflicted about what they just shared. Kyla could see the concern, but she hoped that they knew it was for the best. Kyla only meant well, and if she didn't know anything about Dracula then she would be of no use. But then again, she had the book.

Julianna snapped her out of her thoughts by jostling her. "Did you hear what I said?"

"Wha-?" Kyla frowned, shaking her head. "Sorry, no, I was thinking."

"I bet, Pa gave you lots to think about." She smiled tightly, leading her up the still very creaky stairs and into what Kyla assumed was her designated room. "This is my room," Julianna explained, gesturing around her with a more natural smile on her lips. Kyla noted mentally that she was very pretty. "You'll have privacy though, I'll be sharing my room with Decima."

Kyla hated when people would go out of their way for her when she could sleep on the ground and be fine. "What? No! I wouldn't want to intrude - "

"It's perfectly fine, I've already arranged for it to happen." Julianna explained, not allowing Kyla to finish. Kyla sighed, nodding her thanks as she sat resignedly on the bed and Julianna made to exit. The girl paused at the door, turning to face Kyla before leaving. "It's very brave of you to stand up for what you believe in, to Pa, to even think of doing it to Dracula." Julianna paused, for once looking timid as she spoke. "Thank you. Good night."

She shut the door softly after that, and Kyla looked after her, immediately remembering the hopeful gaze Julianna had held when looking at her. It made Kyla feel good, feel important to be looked at in such a way. No one ever had looked at her in that way, no one had ever bothered her besides the trivial formalities people were expected to exchange. Kyla smiled dreamily as she fell back in the bed, head falling on the thin pillow and consequently hitting the book underneath it.

"Ouch." She sat up quickly, fishing for the book before tracing the spine tentatively. It was smooth under her finger, but it felt nice. Like it was soothing a storm inside her. Kyla quickly looked around for something to light up the room, and she found herself looking through the pockets of her jeans. She found her phone rolled up in her headphones and fist pumped in triumph. The headphones were ruined beyond use, a couple wires frayed and sticking out from the white rubber encasing.

Thankfully though her phone was alright, Kyla was happy to own a waterproof Android in that moment. She pressed the home button and was even more relieved to watch the screen light up as if it was still the twenty first century. After a bit of playing around she realized nothing worked, mostly because of the lack of Internet. Kyla wanted to scream because everything required Wifi, but thankfully the flashlight app didn't, nor did the camera or music apps. She could rejoice later, but first she had some late night reading to catch up on.


	3. The Spark of a Wildfire

**I'll lave this author's note short and sweet for everyone. I had been busy over the past couple of weeks and my muse had left me, but now it's back. This chapter is where things really branch off from where they had before, so everything is new material. Chapter four is already cookin' and now I have a beta! Thanks to MissVD for becoming my Beta! She's helped me a lot already, so once more I dedicate this chapter to her. I must also thank Remember and ischyros for your reviews, I really love the feedback!**

 **Sadly Drac isn't in this update, nor will he be in the next few. I've got to set up the story but then he'll be in nearly every update after that. So please be patient with me :3**

 **I don't own Van Helsing, because if I did Dracula would have a fourth wife - AKA me (oh, and all the other one's would be dead, I don't share). Alas I do not, I only own Kyla and most of the plotline. Please review if you enjoyed!**

 **-Dev**

* * *

 **CHECKMATE**

—

"most gods throw dice, but fate plays chess, and you don't find out

til too late that he's been playing with two queens all along"

—

3

;;the Spark of a Wildfire

They hadn't been kidding when they'd said get some sleep, it had felt like her head had barely hit the pillow when the door was thrown open and the thin, scrappy curtains pulled back to let the sunlight seep in. Kyla groaned as the rays penetrated the thin skin of her eyelids, turning over to bury her face in her pillow when the sheets were pulled off her and a cheery voice filled the air.

"Time to get up! There's lots of work to do today!"

Kyla wondered how anyone could sound so cheery, especially in the morning. She felt so tired that her limbs refused to move, but perhaps that was because she'd fallen asleep reading with the rays of dawn peaking through her window. It was just dawn now, wasn't it? How much sleep had she gotten anyways? The answer was clear - not enough.

"No, I don't wanna." She curled in a ball, cuddling the book and her phone with a drowsy sigh. It was rather cold in the room, probably because they had no central heating and Transylvania was not known for warmth. "Just five more hours at least…"

"We don't have that time to waste Kyla, if you want to stay here you've got to work. And you want to stay here, don't you?"

Stupid question, Kyla thought, forcing herself to get to her feet. Kyla wasn't fond of dying with so little answers, she would only consider it after everything was explained, but right now she had too much to find out. With that bit of motivation, she fully lifted out of bed, leaving her book and phone in the thin pile of sheets before smiling half-enthused at Julianna. "Happy?"

Though mocking as it was, Julianna was, in fact, quite happy that there would be less arguing. "Very, now let us go to breakfast."

Kyla couldn't argue with that. She walked swiftly, following Julianna on her trek down the stairs and into the cozy dining room. She'd never been so close to so many people willingly, and she wondered what it'd be like if her family had been like this. Not half as peaceful and even less enjoyable. Everyone here was already more hospitable to her than her own mother was.

The last remnants of sleep were shaken off her as the house shook and there was a large banging overhead; a bit of dust falling from the ceiling above from the rough jostling and catching Kyla off guard. She sneezed and brushed it off herself before looking at Julianna. Kyla was concerned with what had just transpired, but when she looked at Julianna the girl only seemed amused. "What was that?"

"Arthur is probably wrestling with Anton again, they always do that."

Her point was emphasized by an extra loud creak and more dust falling on Kyla. Once more she coughed, dispelling the brown and gray particles from her hair with a clear shake. "Ah, ok then." She sneezed this time, looking over at Julianna afterwards. The pretty, dark haired girl was giggling, a hand over her mouth, causing a grin to crack on Kyla's face. "What?"

"You are very different," Julianna said, a silly smile on her face. "where did you come from?"

This question had been highly anticipated, but Kyla still had been caught on her back foot, unprepared to answer. She looked away from Julianna, eyes flirting across the room as she opened her mouth as if she was about to reply. You can't say the real answer but you can't lie well either, so don't lie. Kyla wanted to facepalm from the advice she'd conjured for herself, but her brain wasn't entirely asleep still, that could very much still work. "I came from the Americas to visit...family." She managed to suppress a cringe as she said the words as naturally as possible. "On the way there something startled my horse and he began running, he didn't stop either, and after jumping over a fallen branch I flew off. Must've hit my head and…" She looked down at her wrists, still bandaged like her stomach. Kyla hadn't bothered taking off the bandages, in fact she'd almost forgotten they were there in the first place. The only reminder was the slight itch beneath them, and admittedly, Kyla was afraid to see what lay there when she uncovered them. Why she didn't know, but perhaps her fear stemmed from the thought that if she was bleeding, that her fate of being here was sealed. In her own mind at least. " - and fallen unconscious, sustaining a few other injuries as well."

"Your family must be very wealthy if you could travel to see them! Where do they live, in a castle around here, I wonder?" The look of childish glee on Julianna's face had Kyla smiling, but she didn't maintain eye contact for the sake of her lying. She wouldn't be able to sustain it had she kept looking.

"Wealthy? Perhaps. But I do not remember them."

Julianna gasped, "I am sorry," she said softly, grasping Kyla's hand in her own.

"Don't be, it is not your fault I suffered from misfortune. You convinced your family to take me in despite being a complete stranger. Really I should be apologizing for intruding upon your graciousness." Kyla swallowed back a grimace, she had never lied so well in her life - it had felt so convincing she'd almost started to believe it herself. But she would have to lie, she would have to continue to keep up a false front if she wished to survive here without being labeled crazy. That would do her no good in finding a way to get home.

Home. Did she want to go home? Of course she did, she belonged there. This wasn't where she was supposed to be! How she'd gotten here and what higher power had sent here was still a question to be answered, but whether or not she wanted to stay was easily solved. At least, it should have been. Home, by her definition, should be a place where you have happy memories associated with your family. She could remember little of those from what she could remember at all. Her mother had never gone out of her way to make happy memories - had never taken her on a picnic under the blanket of night, had never taken her shopping, just the two of them. Her mother was naught to her, essentially non existent. Her father on the other hand had always been there, but she had little memories with him either. Sure, pizza night and their regular screamathon was fun, but it didn't make up for the lack of family. A family wasn't two people, not for Kyla.

It was these thoughts that crowded her mind and gave her the far off look she had in her eye. Julianna did not press her, and as everyone joined in, they did not press her either. Breakfast, which was eggs and some sort of meat that resembled bacon, was served and eaten in silence. Kyla ate it all, though she was not hungry. She would not intrude upon their hospitality anymore than she had. Would she like a second serving? No she would not. She was full.

Arthur and David went off after breakfast ended to do their chores, Anton tagged along, but Kyla was not to go. She was to do the work of a lady with Decima, Julianna, and Cecil. She did not argue, for she was too deep in thought to care.

"Decima, would you please fetch the needle and thread? Make sure to snatch the extra cloth too, if you could dearest." Lady Cecil's voice was soft and calm, but she was rather commanding her daughter than asking, even if she didn't sound like it. In her stupor, Kyla followed the small, dark haired girl before she was pulled abruptly back to reality. "Not you, Kyla dearie. You look fit for a slightly harder job, nothing much though, don't worry. I just need you to fetch some water from the streams through the trees outside the front gates."

Slightly harder job, how utterly pleasant. Kyla voiced her thanks out of politeness, listening to her simple directions and instructions to fill up the trough in the barn, and the canteen behind the house thrice times. She supposed there would be a pro to doing this chore, though - there would be no one to bother her and her seemingly endless train of thought. If she needed that time to contemplate, it was now.

The find were as they were said to be: right outside the back door, two stacked in each other. After prying them apart, Kyla picked either one up by a handle and walked the path to the stream. Follow the trail past the gates. The gates - if you could call them that - were made of wood and looked as if a child had stuck them together with a glue stick. Kyla sighed, whatever worked worked she supposed.

The branches swayed lightly in the breeze, carrying a thick scent of crisp nature that soothed her mind. Kyla would not think of how she'd gotten here, she didn't need another breakdown, she needed to think of how she could survive, then she could ponder how to get the hell out. She thought reading the book - her only lead on practically anything in this time period - would help, but it proved to not only be completely useless, but also it had given her a headache. She'd read through the first chapter and a half of the book (granted, the words were very small and hard to read) and the only information that she'd gained was that Dracula had sold his soul to Satan and gained magical powers and stuff. Big whoop, she already knew that.

It talked of his extreme thirst for revenge, his twisted sense of approach, his abilities, and all the carnal sins that now possessed his being. It showed how all of it consumed him, made him the ambitious man he was, and then began talking of his travels to gain higher power. It had been utterly boring - filled with large words and politics she didn't want to understand, didn't care to more accurately, but she had to read on. Dracula had to have some weakness besides the typical stake, holy water, and silver. It had even said at the beginning of his creation that he was immune to those things, though his sirelings would not.

Why of all the time periods did she have to get dragged back into the one where a supernatural creature tried to rule the world? Couldn't it have been something less filled with death and more friendly? Something like the invention of ice cream? Why was Kyla's luck so bad?

She didn't have the answer, and it seemed the forest laughed at her despair as the wind blew through it as she trudged onwards, arriving at the stream soon after. It was small and surrounded by a couple of small shrubs and thin bushes, but the water itself looked clear and healthy to drink. Kyla pondered if it was a natural spring or a collection of rainwater - she was nervous to drink it either way, but she could only wonder. She'd never seen something so beautifully pure before. So naturally innocent that it had captured her full attention. Dracula be damned, as she stared at the shimmering surface of the water, she felt oddly calm as she looked intently upon her reflection in the water.

If she just stared at the surface of the water, she could see the stones and moss lining the bottom of the reserve, but if Kyla squinted enough she could make out the faint line of her appearance. There was no drastic changes, but she did not look the same person. Her hair seemed more scraggly and slightly greasy, but not without its natural sheen; her brown eyes were a lighter shade, rather a bright gold now; her skin was flushed, not pale and almost papery as she remembered it to be in the twenty first century.

Was this really her? Kyla's hand came up to her face, and the reflection in the water did the same. Kyla felt put off, all her life she'd looked like a walking corpse, and now that she saw herself in a different light - a different era more like it! - she looked completely alive.

Shakily, she reached out her hand to touch the surface, her fingertip barely brushed it when the exterior rippled, sending out small waves that disturbed the peace over the small oasis. Funny how such a small thing could make such a difference, even if the difference was small as well.

The itching in her wrists had returned, but she didn't notice it.

Kyla leaned back, but she was no longer on a forest floor, but rather in a chair. She blinked once in confusion, and then the world around her changed

There was no more woods, or the smell of it. There was no wind or scratchy dirt ground. Kyla wanted to twist to look around, to see where she was and how everything had changed so fast around her.

The room she now occupied was white and plain. And she was sitting, curled in a ball, on the edge of a windowsill, looking out of it with a furrowed brow. There were a million thoughts racing through her head as there always were, but Kyla felt a barrier between being able to connect to them and just feeling they were there.

Her palm touched the cool glass of the window, and her hand convulsed at the wrist joint for a second, sending an odd jolt of pain through her arm. Kyla was alarmed, but her body didn't move as if it was. Was she even herself? Why couldn't she control her own body?

Then she looked in the window, and like the water, if you squinted just enough, you could see a reflection.

Bright as day Kyla saw hers. She was still herself, still Kyla, but younger almost, not as worn or tired. Her eyes were not muddied by responsibility, the tone of her skin not lost from long days of nothing. She looked innocent, maybe not happy, but pure and lost - able to be guided on the right path. It was an odd look for her to have, and though it was a nice change, Kyla didn't know if she quite liked it. She had no idea where she was, but if this lamb version of herself got tangled with a lion where would she be?

There was a click behind her, then a creak, then another click. Kyla knew someone had entered the room, and it was only confirmed when she heard footsteps approaching her. Kyla wanted to turn around and face her companion, but she found she still had no control over self. What was she witnessing? She could never remember this having happened, and that was when the thought struck her - what if she was remembering something? Remembering something from before her sixteenth birthday, remembering something she never had before?

But then again, why would she remember it now? In Transylvania of all places, and not even in her time period?

Her brain was muddled and clouded with endless questions, but they would have to wait. The faceless companion of the room spoke, and Kyla didn't like the voice.

"You need to drink your medicine."

It was warm, but it sounded false, wrong. The happy tone didn't suit whomever was speaking, and Kyla actually found it more eerie than comforting. She drew her hand back from the window and wrapped it around her knees, her head tilted to the side as a hand was placed on her shoulder. She acted as if she barely noticed it, but a shudder ran through Kyla at the ominous touch. She didn't like that either.

Kyla's eyes flitted up to look at the other occupant of the room, she didn't see many details in that quick glance save for a pair of slate gray eyes, then her gaze was back on the floor. "I don't wish to, it tastes bad and smells worse."

"I'm afraid it's not a topic of discussion, Eve, you are required to drink it, it's for your own good."

Now the voice was slightly sharper, having lost its warm tone and gained a more serious one, like that of a mother berating her child. Kyla was uncomfortable, as she could feel the gray eyes staring into her back as if they were trying to drill holes in them. Wait, did she say Eve?

Eve who? Was Kyla consciously in another person's body? That was a very far-fetched idea, especially considering her and this Eve girl looked alike. Perhaps they were different relatives? All these questions and the even larger amount of lacking answers was beginning to frustrate her.

Something was shoved into Kyla's line of vision, and her thoughts cleared up as she stared curiously at the suspicious liquid. It was a dark green color and bubbled as she stared into it. Kyla's lip curled up in disgust as she stared into its murky depths. This woman expected her to drink that? No way in hell!

Despite Kyla's obvious disgust at the beverage (if you could call it that), her hands moved to take it. Kyla felt her lips move, but instead of mumbling about how bad it smelt (worse than words can describe) or throwing it as she desperately wanted to, she looked up at the woman with large, innocent eyes. The woman nodded encouragingly, and Kyla knew she had no choice but to drink. She protested internally as she raised the vial-like-glass to her lips and let the liquid fill her mouth before seeping down her throat.

Immediately her tongue was overrun with a foul taste that nearly made her gag; it may have smelled bad, but it tasted ten times worse. It was quite definitely the foulest thing she'd ever tasted, somewhere between rotten eggs, dead animal, and dirt. Kyla shuddered as she continued to drink it until every last drop was swallowed. She gagged again, spluttered a bit, but kept the harrowing liquid down.

"Why do I have to drink that?" Kyla asked the woman softly, tentatively meeting her voidless gray eyes.

The woman smiled, but it did not reach her eyes. The room swayed behind the woman, and Kyla knew she'd be reawakening from the vision or whatever it was very soon. But she couldn't leave, not yet. There were too many questions to ask, like what that liquid was, why she had to drink it, and what her connection to Eve is! "All in good time, my dear."

Kyla's mouth fell open, had the woman heard her thoughts? She had no time to answer, no time to ask. Her vision grew fuzzy as she looked down at her hands where the potion was still clutched tightly in them. There was a label, quickly she scanned it, only making out a few letters before there was nothing but black and once more she was staring at the water of the spring. Kyla gasped, drawing back from where her hand touched the surface. She could feel her heart beating wildly in her chest as she clutched her hand tightly to it. Realizing that she was truly awake and no longer in a vision, Kyla relaxed slightly, her eyes flitting around before falling upon the find she'd been sent to fill in the first place.

Kyla stared at them, she remembered the letters she had seen - a v, r, e, and n. Her mind was running in circles, but sitting in the woods would do her nothing. Kyla hurriedly picked the buckets up and filled either one with the clear spring water, all the while making sure to not look at her reflection. When both were filled, she hurried back. They were probably wondering where she'd been anyways.

* * *

The water sloshed up the sides of the bucket as Kyla half-walked, half-jogged back up the trail, only stopping her pace when she was clear of the woods and could see the house in her line of vision. Frankly it was less of a house and more generously an oversized shed, but it was better than nothing.

In a flurry of a light pink dress, Julianna was at Kyla's side, grabbed her cheeks and rotating her head by them as if searching for an injury. "Where have you been? Ma was worried you'd gotten lost! I thought 'No! She seems far too smart to get lost' but Ma insisted I go after you - " Julianna's hurried ramblings were cut off when Kyla pulled the girl's hands from her face, only after setting down the two full pails of water.

"I'm perfectly fine, I just wandered off trail a bit for a moment there, I was lost in my thoughts is all." Kyla was honestly very touched by the girl's concern for her. She was glad someone would worry for her if she died or got lost, but she was even more glad that she had somewhat of an ally in Julianna. She hated having to lie to her though, even if it was for the better. To Kyla, lying to someone so sweet and caring such as her was like lying to an angel - a sin. But if she didn't lie it could be potentially fatal to her person and maybe even Julianna's, especially if the girl chose to believe her. Kyla had every reason to believe she would, so she'd have to keep up her perfectly crafted facade until further notice.

But there was also the matter of the label from the vision… She had a strong feeling of intuition that whatever the label had read was important. Perhaps it was the main ingredient? She didn't know, but what Kyla did know was what she felt, and she felt that whatever the letters she remembered and the ones she didn't quite catch spelled something dire to her survival. Maybe even everyone else's. She would need to take precautions, as it was, to ward off any possibility of Dracula to come for her. The last thing she needed right now was a vampire and his three brides on her tail.

Before she was sure on whether or not she was going to go out of her way for safety's sake, she needed to be sure what she was risking and for what. She'd need to read more of the book even if it did seem completely pointless. There had to be something of use to her in there, and she couldn't risk not finding it. Until then she'd have to use the resources readily available to her, and since they weren't expendable, she'd have to use them wisely. So far she had nothing - this family probably couldn't afford pure silver, and if they did she wouldn't be able to use it for experimentation. Holy water could be acquired, and stakes could be made. They were surrounded by woods, after all. Otherwise she had no weapons, no surprise plan to take her opposers (who, to her knowledge, were still blissfully unaware of her existence) off their high horse and catch them on their back foot.

She didn't like not having that. Kyla needed that reassurance, needed that solid defense to keep her protected, if only for the sake of her mental stability. It was hard enough as it was to face the fact that dying was a very normal thing here, but Kyla wasn't ready to surrender her life just yet. Not if she could help it.

Apparently Julianna had been rambling on about how unsafe it was for her to lose track of thought and to wander off, and about how happy she was that Kyla wasn't dead. Kyla shared sentiments for both things, but she snapped Julianna out of her almost motherly daze by speaking, interrupting the sweet girl's sentence. "When is the next Sunday?"

Julianna replied in what could be considered a beat and a half. "Tomorrow, why?"

Oh good lord! God may have not really abandoned her! Sunday was tomorrow, and if her sense of history served her correctly, that not only meant she could get things blessed and collect holy water, but she could also scourge the market. In her joy, Kyla ignored Julianna's question. "Is the market open tomorrow?"

This time Julianna thought longer, biting her bottom lip as she mumbled a bit to herself. "Every other Sunday… last Sunday there was… wait - no there was no market. So that means yes! The market will be open in the Town Square tomorrow as well."

God bless. Kyla wanted to hop around like a child, kiss someone, scream to the heavens in joy. Luck may have not been on her side before, but it was now in her favor. "Do you think we can stay after the procession and look around? I haven't been to a market in a while and I'd love to go." I have a grocery list in progress that I need to cross off. Kyla didn't add the last part, and Julianna didn't ask anymore questions, probably too hung up on Kyla's own enthusiasm to notice.

"I'm sure I can convince Ma and Pa to let us stay! We're low on milk as it is, since our goat was killed by a wolf nearly a month ago. We haven't been in a while either - oh, I'm so excited! What a grand idea that was, Kyla!" Julianna giggled happily, taking one of the buckets and going away with it, calling Kyla to come and follow her.

Kyla agreed. It was a grand idea, probably the best she'd had in awhile. Maybe close death encounters (or rather the promise of them) made her brain function more properly. Either way tomorrow would be the make it or break it deal, but even before that, she needed more information.

They emptied their buckets, then Julianna explained that she'd help Kyla fill all the necessary bins they were supposed to since she finished sewing the dress she'd been fixing up. It had been for an older woman, Julianna had said, and Kyla had nodded along, happy to humor her friend as a smile seemed to plant itself permanently on her face. Things couldn't go wrong if tomorrow went well, Kyla thought. It was almost funny how wrong she was.

* * *

Sunday morning came, and instead of waking up at the crack of dawn everyone slept in. Kyla was already awake though, and unlike everyone else, she hadn't slept at all.

Sleep, although being a necessity, had never been completely urgent for her. As a college student you learned to sleep very little even if you were easily passing your classes as she was. Sleep was more of a luxury, and she would definitely do it if given the opportunity, but that didn't mean she would seek it or even consider it if there was another, more pressing matter.

That pressing matter in this instance was her grocery list of death, as Kyla called it. She had napped for short periods of time, always waking up with a rush of adrenaline as she returned to laboring over the tattered book and a small sheet of paper. Her only light was the flashlight on her phone, which was still charged despite not having any electricity source. Kyla found that if it stayed with her, the battery didn't go down, but if she left it alone it would dip a percentage or two, which was concerning considering her lack of knowledge about when she'd be able to have electricity again. It always went back up though, and that thought was very comforting.

Either way, when the sun came up and Kyla's new residence became alive, she was only starting to consider sleep. A large yawn escaped her mouth as she relinquished the flashlight, tucking her Android back into its spot under her pillow before looking over her book and annotations. She'd managed to snag a small piece of paper and some sort of charcoal like material that worked like a pencil. She'd read eight and a half more chapters in, happy to find that progress in the story had been made. It wasn't what she expected, still, because instead of having a main conflict, what was being written seemed to be a huge prologue to the real juicy plot that had yet to make its entrance.

When Dracula's human life ended - the details of that development remained vague, only saying that he sold himself to the devil and was gifted with abilities beyond that of a human as a result - he was hellbent on revenge against Valerious the Elder. Again, the details on why he went on a killing spree to end his relations to this man were unclear, but the premise had been explained as extensive treachery, so she'd left it at that and read on. Why Dracula was constantly PMSing was none of her business, as long as she wasn't bearing the brunt of his emotional stress.

He found Valerious in Transylvania, the one kingdom he'd managed to salvage for himself, and named himself king. Dracula would have none of it and waged war on the man. Valerious the Elder had two sons as heirs to his throne, and while he lay on his deathbed - dying from a nasty sickness that had infected his respiratory system - he swore that his line would end Dracula or they would not enter heaven. From that day on the Valerious line was raised to fight to the death, and as his two sons fought to widen their kin, Dracula worked in every power against it. If he could not kill Valerious then he would end their line and never allow the man entrance to heaven.

Over the years Dracula became lonely, and in the lapses where he was at a standstill with killing every last Valerious, he would venture out and explore the world. He had the rest of eternity to kill them, his quest for vengeance could wait as he searched for suitable companionship. While in France, he found his first, black haired wife - Verona. She had been raised in a high class family, nurtured to be a woman of obedience to her husband and able to entertain even the sharpest of minds. Dracula was drawn to her and her natural beauty, and after a short term of courting her, made her his wife. He knew he did not love her, could not love her with the thick hate potent in his veins. He only seemed to grow less able to love, it seemed, over the years as it brewed and festered like a horrible disease. Still, he brought her home and turned her, and for the first seventy years of his existence they were both content, but Dracula became bored as most unfeeling men do, and became enthralled once more by another woman, this time blonde and named Markisha.

She, unlike Verona, was raised under a carpenter who'd been hired by Dracula to do some work on one of his many summer homes. He was attracted to her beauty as well, and though she wasn't quite as classically intelligent as Verona, she was witty and very independent. It was something new considering how suited Dracula was to Verona's undying obedience. Soon after he made her his second bride, and for far longer the two managed to entertain him.

Kyla wondered how a man could just grow bored with women. Even the book sounded relaxed when describing his relations with both, only mentioning his exterminating of more Valerious over time as if he'd been weeding up his garden. It was almost hard to grasp, but through his experiences with his wives, one battle between the three of them and Vasile. Vasile Valerious was the great grandson of Valerious the elder and had two other brothers and three cousins. His generation had been the largest, and despite not being the most fit of all his royal family, he had come the closest to killing Dracula out of anyone. His research had been extensive and based off of how to weaken the Count instead of trying to battle him. Kyla approved of this approach, but the book was once more vague on his knowledge, though Kyla still noted his name with stars surrounding it in her head.

After recovering from the battle with Vasile and killing him, Dracula had gone from his wives on a lone mission to recover, not wanting anyone to witness his weakness, as it had been greatest after the confrontation. He traveled to Budapest, and there he had met Aleera who was unfortunately being preyed upon by a group of five men. In his rage he killed them all, saving her life as she'd been bleeding out. On that day Aleera had sworn her forever obedience to the Count and made a promise to herself that one day he would love her, but until then she'd be his faithful servant. She was by far the most malicious of all the brides, as her bloodlust had been described as remorseless in an attempt to impress Dracula. The Count admired her ferocity and fierce dependence upon him, though at times she could be rebellious, but like the others he did not love them, so the three had to share Dracula and bond over their unwavering dedication to him.

That fact had appalled Kyla still: three brides? How could one not sate him, let alone three? The book made it seem as if he wasn't even happy with the three beautiful brides he had sired, and that fact made Kyla disgusted. Yet she'd delved on, reading about how he'd turned hundreds of vampires as he went, building an army against the Valerious as he waited for the correct time to strike. This would be his revenge - when all the Valerious died. But still, the thought alone to Dracula of only killing his enemy was not appealing. The book had mentioned that, as a human, Dracula had lost his wife and children, and so he still looked for an heir in his wives but were only able to produce undead kin. Dracula knew God had cursed him with this harsh reality, but he was determined to triumph over the lord that had betrayed him as he swore to over the Valerious, and nothing would get in his way of having the family he rightfully deserved, and then the world would soon follow. And no one would know the end of him, because then he would be invincible.

Kyla wanted to sigh, typical shallow tyrant with a just as horribly shallow plan. Take over the world, yada yada yah. Kyla wasn't entirely impressed, but she would not take the situation lightly even if the book described it as bland as any other villain's plans for world domination. Dracula was a vampire, and though he had a vision of death with him on top, he did have the means of achieving it, and he used them in the next step.

This was where she'd left off: Dracula had found an unsuccessful scientist, kicked from his institute for trying to bring the dead back to life - which was not only a sin, but considered a horrible crime against humanity and labeled impossible. He'd sworn to have success before, but he had little proof, so no one believed him. Dracula thought it funny how this man fell into his lap like a gift, Victor Frankenstein was a very bright man, and he would not let that genius go to waste. It had been so easy to kill him into security, to bring him to his side and convince him that he believed in his work. Shortly after Dracula had explained what he was, but Victor had not seemed alarmed in the slightest. Shocked maybe, but alarmed, no. Curious was what Dracula had thought on the topic, but considering the Doctor's pursuits, Dracula was sure he had to have a very open mind.

It had been a thick lot of reading, and though everything seemed important, no light had been shed on Dracula or his weaknesses. Kyla had truly begun to believe that whatever higher power that sent her here had been teasing her with flimsy information. The only thing of real notice that she'd collected from the book had been an intricate V letter on one of the pages. There had been no explanation as to why it was there, and the text surrounding it had done little to explain why it was there either. Kyla supposed it had to do something with Dracula or Victor, but she also thought it odd to be so out of place. She would not delude herself to thinking it was unimportant though, any bit of information here could be, so she would take in as much as she could.

They'd been walking for quite a while, Decima and Anton sitting atop a single donkey, it's hairs peppered with light gray while Arthur, David, Kyla, Cecil, and Julianna walked. They were all dressed in their nicest clothes: the boys in clean trousers and well pressed shirts, the women in their best dresses, save for Kyla who, unlike the rest, wasn't wearing a dress. She had changed the bandages around her arms and stomach as well, Julianna had insisted, so Kyla complied despite their lack of purpose.

According to Julianna the walk was only a bit, but after what felt like an hour and they still weren't there, Kyla began to question what 'a bit' meant. What she would have done for a car or bike right now.

"Julianna told me that you are visiting from America, what is it like there?"

At the sound of the motherly voice Kyla turned to Cecil. She could imagine the vivid color on Julianna's cheeks at the mention of what Kyla had told her being said aloud without her permission. That didn't bother Kyla though, she expected these people to be curious of her, she was staying in their home after all. But how would she answer the question? It would have to be somewhat believable, and though she could function without sleep, her brain didn't seem to be cooperating at all with her at the moment. It didn't help that she'd nearly fallen asleep in every history class she'd taken, oh god why did all the classes to help her now have to be the ones she didn't pay attention in?!

Ok so 1887 America is boring, essentially. Nothing really happened, so just play it off as you have a boring but mediocrely wealthy life. Sound as dull as possible so they don't ask anymore questions. Easy peasy.

"I lived in New Jersey for most of my life with my father who is...a successful scientist. He wanted me to visit some of his distant relatives out here in….uh, where are we?" Kyla wanted to facepalm after she asked that. They probably thought she was some airhead! Oh well, it would be easier to explain everything else.

"Viscera, my dear," Cecil replied easily, ignoring Kyla's slightly red cheeks. " - in the region of Transylvania, Romania."

"Yes well, I'm pretty sure my uncle - whom I'm visiting, by the way - lives somewhere around here. Budapest, maybe? I can't remember. Well anyway, I was supposed to come and stay with my Uncle as my father travels, but I can't seem to remember much about him."

"Not even his name?" Cecil asked, sounding sad and sympathetic.

Was it so easy to fool these people? Were they so disillusioned to believe everyone? Kyla wouldn't be fooled so easily by their compassion, these people were calloused and lived a hard life, surely they couldn't accept her story so easily? Or maybe she'd become a much better liar than before. She kept her head down, praying she could stay a good liar. "No, I can remember some of his facial features, but nothing of real individual value."

An awkward silence settled over them as they trudged through the thin woods, the ground creaking and crunching beneath them as they went. Kyla wondered if their home had been the farthest from the church as possible, but before she could muse her complaints further the town came into sight, and the sore soles of her feet rejoiced. Before she even considered helping take some Dracula, she would need to get into better shape.

There was a shuffling, then Julianna was at her side, her head bowed as she whispered in a hushed and ashamed voice. "I'm sorry about that, Kyla, I thought my mother should know - "

"It's fine Julianna, I completely understand. They would have had to find out sooner or later." Kyla reassured, patting her friend encouragingly. "If it makes you feel any better, I'm glad you told her and not me."

Julianna looked relieved, and Kyla was glad she could release the stress from her friend. She was too nice to have to feel so tense over something so small as that. Julianna just seemed too good for her own good. "Well, I wanted to make it a surprise but I suppose I should tell you now...Ma and Pa said we could go to the market afterwards. Apparently they were planning on going soon, so today was perfect!"

The town, Kyla noticed as the family fully entered it, was small and made of houses similar to the one she'd been staying in: shack-like and completely constructed out of wood. The people were also similar to the family she'd been staying with: dark hair down, dark eyes, sullen expressions, raggedy dresses. Most appeared even more dull than her company, she must have looked like a black sheep amongst them, because as soon as she entered the world seemed to stop and every eye fell on her.

Despite the fact that she should have known this was coming, the standstill the crowd had come to was shocking, and as she was quickly led into a church Kyla felt very apprehensive about coming in the first place. But she knew she needed to be here - needed to know if there was something at the market that could help her.

"Ignore them, there's not many strangers around here."

Kyla nodded half-heartedly at Julianna's words as they stepped into the cathedral. It was simple like the rest of the town and spoke of old age and years of good use. The floorboards were worn, most likely from the constant hustle in and out; the altars were decorated plainly, and though the Church looked like any other Church, it seemed as if it could only hold fifty people at most. Seventy if you were going to push it. But in a town this small, Kyla supposed that was all you needed.

They took a seat towards the back, and Kyla sat on the edge of hers as people poured in, everyone looking curiously at her. She must have been quite the sight - a blonde woman in loose pants and a large shirt, obviously not local, and definitely not related to the people she was staying with. The town officially had something to gossip about, and Kyla would be the very center of it, the spark of a wildfire.

The doors at the opposite end opened, and a man clad in all white and faded gold robes entered, signaling the sign of Christ before beginning his speech. "We are thankful to be gathered here today again together in the face of our God, and as such, we should be thankful to our faith for guiding us back into his loving arms…"

Kyla heard little else. She desperately wished she could listen, but her mind would not allow her. She should have listened, should have payed attention for the mere fact that she was in the midst of something horrible and God could be her only ally. But for some reason every time she tried to think about what was being said, her mind went blank and she stared off into space.

She had been kneeling, her hands folded in prayer when her eyes focused and she noticed a pair of girls looking at her. Upon closer inspection she saw they were twins, one with brown eyes, the other with blue. Their gazes were unwavering as they stare at her, and Kyla felt slightly unnerved as her eyes flitted to Julianna beside her. The girl was deep in prayer, and when she fleetingly surveyed the room, Kyla realized everyone else was as well. When her eyes moved back to the twins they still stared. Then there was a small burst of light between the twins, and the colors around her exploded into black and white, the only other color varying shades of blue in the otherwise dull room.

Kyla gasped as a forceful shudder ran through her, nearly forcing her to cry out. Her wrists and stomach itched furiously, but that seemed the least of her worries when she realized the whole entire room was looking at her with accusatory glances. Among the hate filled stares was Julianna, and Kyla felt alone as the weight of all of them fell onto her shoulders. All at once her heartbeat sounded loudly in her ears, and as if on cue, Kyla heard the yelling of everyone as they jeered at her as well.

"Devil's whore!"

"Monster!"

"Freak of nature!"

Kyla wanted to cry, to scream and plead that this wasn't her. She didn't feel right, she felt too much emotion at the moment to bear it all in reason. Once more her eyes met the twins', and their mouths moved in synchronization as soft words formed.

"You're an experiment, you're not even human."

Kyla covered her hands over her ears, the shouting growing louder as everyone closed the distance to her and chanted more and more harmful words. "Stop it! Stop!" The walls of the church began burning, the paint peeling away and falling to ash on the ground as invisible flames licked at the rotting wood.

Her pleas did nothing. They didn't stop, and when they were close enough to touch her Kyla screamed one final time before a flash of blue crackled through the air and the scene disappeared.

Kyla let out a heavy breath, a thin sheen of sweat having collected on her face as she stared straight ahead, but the twins weren't looking. In fact, it seemed as if they'd never been looking at all.

"Kyla, are you alright?" Julianna asked from beside her, a worried tone present in her voice.

"Quite, I just dozed off for a bit there, sorry."

She didn't ask anymore, and Kyla managed to stay focused for the rest of the procession as the priest spoke.

"In the name of the lord we pray for those who have fallen in the past week. Among them being…" He prattled off a list of five or so names, and Kyla became concerned at the high death count in just the passing week, but then the priest's next words surprised her. "...they died during the extermination and rightful claiming of the Doctor Frankenstein, who was creating a monster under the Devil's son."

Kyla felt the room go chill at the mention of Dracula, but her mind was still fully focused on the words. Rightful claiming? Extermination? Doctor Frankenstein? Oh so many more questions, and so many less answers…

As soon as the procession ended Kyla bolted out of the church, waiting anxiously for Julianna before stealing away with her and going quick to the heart of the market. It was small, but at the same time large considering the population of Viscera. Kyla humored Julianna and looked at the pretty dresses and bows that intrigued the girl, but it didn't take much looking for her to catch the sight of something beyond appealing to her.

Amongst a thick pile of jewelry, books, quills, and stones Kyla noticed a ring. It seemed to be made of pure silver by the way the light glimmered off it, but even more eye catching than that was the intricate V engraved on the front. It was the same from The Legend of Count Dracula!

"You're the American lass, ain'tcha?"

Kyla looked up suddenly at the voice, her expression rather dry. Word must travel fast around here. If I'm the best thing people have to talk about around here, something is up. Especially if vampires come once a month.

"Yes I am."

"You interested in anything y'see? Everything is half priced, got most of the stuff 'ere - "

"From a grave robbery." Kyla murmured to herself, unintentionally interrupting him.

He didn't seem to notice, and if he did, he didn't seem to show it. "Mhm, heard about that, did ya lassie? The whole town came together to end Frankenstein and the monster he made. We managed to chase if all 'he way to the windmill, set it on fire, and watched the thing kill itself."

Kyla gulped,"You mean...you mean the monster was real? Like, actually alive?"

The vendor shrugged his broad shoulders, "As alive as you and me, walked with a gimp in its leg, but it could talk and all that."

"Was he scary?" Kyla felt slightly stupid asking that, but anything to assuage the curiosity in her would be good.

"I s'pose. It was tall as can be, broader than three men at least, pr'bly as strong as ten. Didn't stay to find out."

Kyla's eyes fell to the ring. She hurriedly snatched it from the pile and held it up to him, she didn't have any money, but she needed the ring. It was no coincidence that it was in the book and most likely stolen from during the grave robbery. There was a connection there, and that connection may just give her answers. "How much for this?"

The vendor scrunched his eyes into slits, taking the ring from her hand and rolling it over in his palm as he looked intently at it. Kyla watched anxiously as he looked at it before he shook his head and stuffed it in his pocket. "That one ain't for sale."

"Wha-? Why not? I need that."

The man looked at her suspiciously, "Unless you've got ten silver pieces on you, it's not for sale."

"I need that ring." Kyla insisted, indignant.

"Come back next week with fifteen silver pieces and it's yours, no guarantees that it'll be for sale then, though."

Kyla didn't have that money, nor did she have the time. She needed that ring as soon as possible, and considering the state of her quarters, the family didn't have fifteen silver pieces to spare, nor would they anytime soon - especially for a stranger.

She turned and walked angrily away. Her mind was whirling, and though Kyla didn't have any means of getting the ring legally, there were always other...less orthodox routes. If she needed to do something bad, she would, and right now the situation seemed to call for it.

"Did you see anything you liked?" Julianna asked with a large, pure grin on her unblemished and young face as they journeyed back. Kyla looked at her briefly, her gaze expressionless as a smile of her own curled at her lips. Hers was much less innocent.

"Yes, I did."

"Well, what was it?"

"I found a bit of inspiration and motivation inside myself."

Julianna laughed casually, her head tilted to the side a bit as she looked up at Kyla. "I suppose that's better than any material item then, right?"

Kyla looked at Julianna, and now she couldn't hide the sly smirk on her face. "Right you are." She'd found inspiration and motivation to get what she wanted, just with a backdoor plan that was considered to be unfavorable. In the end, as long as Kyla retrieved it unscathed, everything would be alright.


	4. The Dark Wood

**Again, I'll make this author's note short, because I really don't have much to say. Besides my recent obsession with The Walking Dead I haven't been able to write because of school and other obstacles. Otherwise I had writer's block and wasn't happy with my writing, but thanks to my ever loyal beta MissVD I decided that what I'd written was good. Thanks to her for dealing with me and having to edit all my stuff!**

 **Also thanks to those who followed, favorited, and took the time to review the last chapter. I really appreciate it :) You guys will find this chapter is extra long to make up for the wait.**

 **On the other hand I have changed my username if you haven't noticed. I didn't like 'PhantomOfWriting', so I decided to do a little play on words for bon apetit.**

 **Please leave a review, I would really appreciate it!**

 **-Dev**

* * *

 **CHECKMATE**

—

"most gods throw dice, but fate plays chess, and you don't find out

til too late that he's been playing with two queens all along"

—

4

;;The Dark Wood

Three and a half days later, and things had not seemed to have changed in the slightest. Dracula had been growing more irritable by the day, unable to find the information he needed to further his plans. The Valerious were also oddly silent in their current endeavors, and Dracula could only wonder what stupid plan they had in mind and when they would execute it.

It irked him to no end that in Frankenstein's library, his own, and every other resource he'd gone to in his desperation did nothing for him. There were only so many places the information could hide, and it seemed as if he'd looked through them all with no avail. The Count's nerves were at their ends, and his brides could do nothing to soothe them, in fact, it seemed as if they only managed to make it worse. He was trying to bring their children to life, and though they shared that common goal, all they ever wanted to do was have sex. He wasn't necessarily opposed to the idea, but when one is trying to get work done, it's particularly harder to do so when you have three woman tugging at the waistband of your pants.

His optimistic moods about the whole entire operation had quickly turned around, replaced now with a thick embitterment that even mind blowing intercourse couldn't shake. His three brides had done nothing for him, so he'd sent them away to do as they pleased with the village. He would rather care less the depth of their destruction, but the Count knew Verona would keep his two younger brides in line - she always had.

Had it been conceivable that his rage could have become worse as it soon would, not a soul would have dared been in Dracula's presence. But it was no fathomable to think that the highly irritated Prince of darkness could reach any farther into the pit of his festering anger, so when Igor came with horrible news about the reconstruction and how it was currently at a standstill - something Dracula too had been experiencing with his research - he threw a hefty tantrum. Dracula was already wearing a sour expression when the troll had arrived, saying that he could not forge the blueprints so the machine could be rebuilt in Castle Dracula because they were not there. The Count had asked what Igor meant, but he could not elaborate, the blueprints were simply not there. Not in existence anymore, it seemed, for after tearing the Castle apart Dracula was only left with a pile of shredded paper and a seemingly unperturbable rage burning in the pit of his being.

Promptly after receiving that highly unwanted bit of information, the Count fell into a rather dramatic tantrum, turning into his beastly form and ripping apart two of Victor's most private rooms – and therefore most promising – which had held just about as much importance in his mission for information as the bathroom had: none at all. Igor had made himself scarce amongst this fit, and since his brides had already been dismissed a day prior, the Count was left to simmer in his own boiling fever.

Dracula had looked over the letter that had been left to Victor but was now in his possession, but it seemed the more he read them the more confused he became. Almost as if someone was breathing on an already foggy pane of glass in an attempt to make it clearer. Dracula was sure he was on the verge of a revelation, but he just needed that little piece of information to push him in the right direction. It was showing no sign of appearing, so he settled for studying the sketches, notes, and random conclusions that had been spared.

They were rather intricate and very detailed, but he had no idea who it applied to. Were they for his progeny? For the monster called Adam? Just sketches of previous works he'd yet to complete? And then there was Eve, the woman who the Count had every reason to believe was the key to this whole mess despite knowing so little of her. That proved to be frustrating to no end, as once again Victor's vague, scratchy writing and received letter writing stumped the Count's usually very fast-paced brain.

His hands were once again massaging the bridge of his nose, the very few pages that held potentially useful information spread on his organized desk in front of him. He had ordered no one to disturb him unless it was of great importance to his time, he had even gone to great lengths to keep his brides away as they always managed to reverse the production he needed by constantly having the papers on his desk thrown to the floor. The activities that followed were potent with sin, and though Dracula seemed to live off of it, he was not in any mood to be with any of his wives. His mind was buckled down to the mission at hand, and his thoughts were overrun with a clouding rage that he could barely suppress.

Then there was a knocking on the door to his study, which glowed softly in the candlelight, giving him an eerie outline that made him look even more powerful than usual. Dracula preferred his work settings a specific way, as he was usually very hard to please and could only be productive if the environment suited him. Now, when he was struggling to find anything. But even his preferred circumstances were not helping his dropping mood, and the arrival of a most untimely guest.

Quickly, the Count composed himself as best he could before uttering a confident, albeit forced "Enter", in which his red-headed bride made herself known by opening the door and entering the room. A disgusted sneer curled at Dracula's lips as she sauntered to him, draping herself in front of him on the desk. The papers were not forgotten, but she had wisely avoided where they lay.

"Aleera." Dracula greeted, his voice low and venomous as he stared at her with two unnaturally icy eyes. Aleera was not put off, she knew her master was in a bad mood - her intention was to change that. "What are you doing here when I specifically ordered the three of you to be gone of my presence?"

"I came back to entertain you, Master." She replied sweetly, her legs inching apart and chest heaving as she tried to make her breasts swell. Dracula did not miss it, but the display put him off more than it had achieved in its desired effect.

"Distract me more like, and I cannot and will not be distracted. I have work to do, dire work, and you being here is counterproductive."

Aleera smirked, he only would say that if he wanted her, and as her eyes lowered to the slight bulge in his pants. She licked her lips, her eyes flickering back up to his with a lustful look in them. Dracula may not have been in the mood, but his soon to be raging erection was another story. The intense look in Aleera's eye was recognized by the beast inside of him, and it so desperately wanted to lash out and tame her. "How so? I promise I have your best intentions in mind." She purred, voice dripping with seduction as she fully opened her legs. Dracula's eyes glanced briefly at them before the anger grew tenfold in his face, but Aleera was not fazed. She knew this rage was the product of her seductive acts working.

"I am in no mood for your childish games, Aleera. You have disobeyed me by leaving your sisters, now leave before I decide to punish you accordingly." Dracula had turned away and quickly occupied himself with looking at meaningful papers. Aleera was careful, though she knew her tricks were working, she had to be careful what she said next - she was treading on thin ice, and one wrong move could have her in far too deep.

Dracula's head snapped up, and Aleera had to suppress a triumphant grin as his attention was fully on her. "Good news, I hope?"

"It depends truly."

She left the statement at that, and Dracula's curiosity bubbled. Though not the smartest, Aleera was very sly and knew how to entice a man. His beast recognized this, and it began to grow harder to control as his dominant nature wished to take over. "Do tell."

"Sunday is market day after mass as you well know, this time it ran quite later than usual, barely into the brink of night so that I could hear what the commotion was." Aleera smirked as if she'd stolen some jewel and was the one to receive the prize for having it. "There is a newcomer, Master, an American one. She was said to be traveling to her family in Budapest when she lost her way and hit her head, losing her memory as a result."

At this time Aleera had relinquished her position on the desk, her fingers ghosting over the front of her Master's shirt as she stayed the perfect distance away: close enough to be kissed, but far enough to be casual. Dracula admired her persistence, as did the beast - she did have information, even if it wasn't dire. Not often were there visitors from other countries, and the Count could not imagine what she looked like. Aleera had left out a few details after all, a lot of the men only spoke of her beauty and oddness of dress, as she wore men clothing, but it was her exotic nature that made her so alluring, and Aleera was not going to put her position at risk for a one time fling if Dracula became interested in her.

Dracula's eyes were glowing with desire, having replaced the frustration as his mind drifted far from the plan. He was not weak for Aleera, but he had not been sated in what felt like a week, and his inner beast was desperate for that dosage of dominance. And Aleera would give it to him, over and over and over again. "A newcomer you say? Why such a commotion over a meager American? I've heard they are quite dull."

Dracula's hand brushed against her breast, and Aleera's mouth fell open as she closed the distance between them, pressing her bosom to his chest and rubbing her hips slightly to show him how much she wanted the release as well. "Dull indeed master, I can show you the opposite."

"Oh I'm sure you can my dear sireling, and I'm sure you will enjoy every moment of it." Dracula pushed her back to the desk, the papers disappearing with the flick of his hand as he hoisted her onto the edge. Immediately Aleera opened her legs, and Dracula closed the gap between them as their hips met in hot friction. Dracula lowered his lips to Aleera's neck, placing chaste open mouthed kisses on the length of her jugular and shoulder that was bare for his wishes thanks to her rather immodest dress. Aleera moaned, and Dracula felt his inner beast growl with content at the submission. He stopped kissing her for a moment, his hips continuing to grind as he stared at her with a hungry, dark, and selfish look in his eyes. Aleera felt wanted, but Dracula was only looking at her body. "Let's give this newcomer a warm welcome, hm?"

"Yes, of course Master," Aleera panted, her fangs lengthening in her desire as she frantically tried to make her movements harder for more relief. Dracula kept his same pace, one of his hands splayed on her hips to keep his pace. "Anything you wish."

Dracula nearly chuckled, of course she would agree, how would she get rewarded if she didn't? Why wouldn't she agree when he was the object of her darkest desires?

Aleera's hands avoided touching Dracula no matter how much she wished to, she understood his hatred of people touching him without his given permission, and she respected those wishes for she would not be rewarded if she didn't grant them. That did not stop the trailing of her tongue and lips and teeth as they scratched hungrily at his skin, or the zealous movements of her sculpted hips against his. "Let's give this town something truly great to talk about…"

"…Yes…"

"Kill the newcomer and hang her carcass for all to see. Surely the Valerious will take the bait and come running to us, then you and your sisters can kill them."

Aleera looked positively ecstatic to have such a mission for her own claiming, even if part of it was shared with her sisters. She could easily take down the oblivious newcomer, she would never know what hit her. It was a foolproof plan, and if it pleased her master she would fly to the ends of hell and back as long as he was content. "You are a genius, master." She moaned, her fangs reaching full length from the heady smell of arousal in the air.

Dracula grabbed his bride's arms then, wrapping them around his neck as he began to up the friction in the juncture where their nether regions met. "Good. I need her dead as soon as possible, the sooner the bait is up, the sooner we can catch the fish. But first, we must finish what we've started."

Aleera did not object, and after multiple quick, and detached rounds of mind blowing intercourse - for her at the very least - Dracula's bad mood was quelled and Aleera was on her way to kill the newcomer. She did not know where to find her, but in a town so small it would not be hard.

No more than thirty miles away the "droll" newcomer was beginning to put her plan into action as the moon took its reign in the sky. Kyla would truly not see it coming, but that didn't mean she wouldn't be prepared.

* * *

Kyla's ingenious plan was not so ingenious as she first thought, she soon figured out. She had taken two or three days - she couldn't particularly remember the number, during the time lapse her brain had been fully occupied and not with the work she'd been doing. During that time she'd thought of nearly every possibility and weighed every option. She knew how to escape and return silently, remembered how to get to and return from her designation. She even practiced pick-pocketing and dabbled in a bit of lock picking for this, but she had forgotten quite a few details in her excitement.

After waiting till night fell, Kyla left her temporary residence and fled into the night. She was sure no one heard her, and thanks to her flashlight, she would be able to see everything quite easily.

Kyla navigated through the woods, half walking half jogging as she picked over branches and small amounts of brush. Her foot almost got snagged multiple times, but she managed to stay upright as she ventured further.

Once the town had come into sight, the buildings looming as shapes of darkness in front of her, Kyla felt a realization sucker punch her in the stomach. The air seemed to leave her lungs, and that was how Kyla stood for a very long time, mulling over her stupidity.

She'd forgotten to think about the most important thing - where the ring actually was.

Of course it wouldn't be where it's been, the market had closed over two days ago, why would it still be there?

Stupid stupid stupid! Kyla hit herself on the forehead with her closed fist, reprimanding herself for being such an ignorant neanderthal. She was, however, determined to not throw away the opportunity. It would be absurd to not attempt to fulfill her mission, and since she had nothing to lose at this point, she'd give it the old college try. Whether her improvisation would work or not was yet to be determined.

First, she decided, she'd start with rationalizing with herself. The market had been small, but the town itself was the same size if not smaller, so if she could cut out some of her options, she'd have a good chance of getting her prize. Obviously the ring wouldn't be in the church or the building which she assumed was an inn - her evidence was the sign and structure, but otherwise it was a guess. From there she was stuck, since all the other houses looked the same and were built as xeroxes of the same shack-like wooden structure she stayed in.

Kyla sighed to herself, "Your observation skills suck."

She'd managed to lower her chances to fifty-fifty by declaring that the two houses at the end of the square were the highest likely candidates thanks to her remembrance of the placement of the shop. Now all she had to do was choose one and find it.

Quickly but quietly Kyla had made her way across the moonlit clearing and stood in between the two houses. Now at a closer range she could see signs of crops on the left house, and after a bit of thinking, she decided the right one was her best bet.

After circling the right house, Kyla stood on the porch, surveying her target with a keen eye. The house was silent and completely black, and by the way the structure creaked in the breeze it felt almost eerily old to look at. If she wouldn't have known any better, she would've thought the house was empty. But that market was all this man probably had, he would most likely not leave it unattended for the sake of himself and/or his family. That was another problem. Kyla, only being human, felt slight guilt at stealing this, but she supposed since this man had stolen it originally that it wasn't too much of a treasure, especially if he meant to sell it.

It was slightly unnerving for the onlooker, but she took in a deep calming breath and buried those feelings along with her guilt deep away. They couldn't hinder her now.

Kyla decided that the most likely place the man would be keeping his prized possessions was in his room. Most people did, especially in these days, so she'd have to break in, get to his room, find her things, and then get out. All the while not getting caught. Simple enough.

That was easier said than done though. It took nearly five minutes for her to play with the backdoor to the wooden house before she silently opened the door and managed to sneak in. The wood immediately creaked under her feet, and the door groaned as it shut. Kyla held her breath, waiting for the telltale sound of a sleeping person stirring to bust her ass and get out of the house. But there was nothing. Only an oppressive silence that slightly soothed her mounting anxiety.

It was hard to see, but she managed to deduct that the room was upstairs. It was even harder to find the stairs, but she did and rose on the first one. It creaked rather loudly, but Kyla was sure it would for all of them, so she'd have to stay close to the wall and try and skip steps as silently as possible to not get caught. Once at the top, Kyla surveyed her options and, after hearing a rather loud snore, headed towards the open door where it came from. There was no way that didn't belong to a sleeping male, and once she crossed the threshold and stood in the doorway, her suspicions were confirmed. She was in the correct house, and all she was looking for was in the same room.

The man was sprawled out on a small bed that was empty beside him, the sheets clung to him, and a thin comforter was draped over his legs as he snored shamelessly in the night. Kyla could make out the slight rising and falling of his chest, and she was decently sure that he was out cold as she crept across the room to where her prize lay.

There was a large pile of things, some tucked away haphazardly in boxes, others organized neatly. Kyla found the ring almost immediately, but she had also noticed some things that weren't being sold at the market that were here now. She glanced back over her shoulder at the still sleeping figure in the bed and decided a little more digging would be safe, albeit a bit risky. Directing her phone light to the thick book in the middle of the box, Kyla looked curiously at the golden encrusted book, lined in silver thread with a black leather cover. She fished it from the stack, carefully plying the other artifacts off it before fully extracting it from the pile of junk, Kyla ran her fingers lightly over the worn cover, reading the cursive print in a hushed whisper. "Book of Genesis."

Confused was an understatement as to what Kyla was feeling, in fact the word only held a candle to the barrage of questions, theories, and thoughts that popped into her head right when she looked at it. This stuff had come from Frankenstein's castle, and initially Kyla had thought it was either Frankenstein's or Dracula's, but after seeing a bible, she was sure it wasn't the Count's, though that didn't clear her mind. What would a man like Frankenstein be doing with a bible if he worked for Dracula - the renowned Devil's Son? On one hand she didn't blame him, but on the other it didn't make sense to work under such a horrible person and to stay loyal to one's faith. The Book of Genesis was for those of Hebrew heritage, or rather people who studies Judaism, and though history hadn't been her favorite class, Kyla knew that most Jews of this time were ardent in their faith. Perhaps Frankenstein had been the exception, but it didn't make sense that he'd keep the Hebrew equivalent of a bible unless he planned to use it against Dracula as self-defense, something she didn't wager he'd do.

She glanced back at the sleeping man again before going to open the book when her cloak caught hold of something, and suddenly the air around her stilled before her back crashed loudly against the ground. Kyla felt a surge of fear grip her heart as a soft grunt followed by the rustling of sheets sounded beside her. She clamped her hand over her mouth, just barely silencing herself when they rustled again, only more vigorously this time. A rough voice laden with sleep cracked the fragile silence. "Who's there?"

In a quick and silent movement Kyla smothered her phone flashlight, grabbed the book and ring, rolled to her stomach, then shot to her feet. She was out the door in an instant, and as she sprinted down the stairs she barely heard the man fall to the floor, shouting incomprehensible words after her as she bolted out the door she entered and into the night. Kyla ran straight towards the woods, her feet not slowing until she breached the treeline. It was hard to see where she was going, with the adrenaline pumping in her and mind muddled with anxiety, she didn't dare recover her phone for sight.

Therein lay her mistake, something had been protruding from the ground, and it was far too late when she realized her mistake. She hit the ground hard, her wrists outstretched in a late attempt to break her fall. Her left one twisted, softening the fall of her abdomen but not sparing her wrist-joint as it popped upon impact. Kyla barely managed a restrained cry when she heard a soft noise beside her, and after her cries lowered and the blood ceased to pound in her ears did she make out the sound. Someone was mocking her.

"Tsk tsk tsk, didn't your parents ever teach you not to be in the woods at night? You never know what kind of monsters may be lurking to eat you."

Kyla was at a large disadvantage. Not only was she unable to see her attacker, but the only sense she had of her was her sensuous voice, that, in reality, sounded more like a purr. Unconsciously she cradled her wrist, scooching away from where her attacker with her phone, script, and ring still tucked away in the folds of her cloak. "They also taught me not to talk to strangers, I'm taking a huge leap tonight, aren't I?" Kyla's inner monologue broke loose despite her best efforts to hold it back. Her luck had not been good this week, the last thing she needed was spite from a dangerous sounding female who, though she didn't want to admit it, was probably under Dracula's wing.

Her suspicions were confirmed when a hand wrapped around her throat, hoisting Kyla to her feet and eventually to where the tips of her toes barely brushed the ground. Immediately she gasped for air, her body paralyzing at the lack of oxygen in its system all of a sudden. "It is not in your best interest to taunt you superiors, especially when your superiors have the upper hand."

"I'm not really known for making the best decisions," Kyla snarked, her words a wheeze as she sucked in every ounce of air she could. "it's just not really in my nature." With a grunt she managed to arc her foot up and land a blow to her attacker's stomach, whom, unknown to Kyla due to her lack of sight, was Dracula's youngest bride - Aleera.

Said vampire dropped Kyla out of surprise, giving her a moment to collect her bearings and fish her phone from her pocket with her good hand and raise it to her opponent. Aleera's face was illuminated by the artificial light, her dark eyes glimmering and fangs shining as she bore them at Kyla. A mere second of confusion was on her face before it disappeared and was replaced with something akin to rage and joy in a terrifying mix. Kyla grimaced, she was beginning to regret tonight - she decided to step out of line and Karma was already reigning down on her.

"There's no need to be afraid, little one." Kyla scowled at her choice of words, her heart may be beating out of her chest but she was taller than the average woman according to statistics. Focus, arguing your height won't matter if you're dead! Think of a vampire's weaknesses and try to survive. Kyla's instincts were right, and immediately she thought of the list she'd made of how to weaken a vampire. Though most things didn't work on Dracula it never said they wouldn't work on his brides. Her book better be correct, because if it didn't it was going to have a date with the fireplace if she lived to see the next day. Aleera continued as Kyla wrestled with her thoughts, her voice gaining a sickly sweet lilt to it. "I won't hurt you too bad, I promise."

"Why do I find that very hard to believe, if my assumption of what you are is correct, then it is very much in your nature to hurt people."

Aleera's red lips curled up in a malevolent smile, one of her greatest weaknesses was her tendency to play with her food before it was caught. She gasped dramatically, her hand coming to her mouth in feign disbelief. "Are you accusing me of killing people? Mercilessly?" She paused, a spring in her feet as she crouched her knees. "You are either very smart or very stupid to make such a bold assumption."

Kyla slipped on the ring, not wanting to risk losing it before dropping her phone to the ground. She didn't know how long she'd been out, but the beginnings of day were seeping through the gaps in the canopy above. Now she held the book steadfast, hoping it would work in the same fashion as a bible. "I've been told that a lot, sometimes smart people can be the stupidest. But, on the topic of my assumption, I was just actually accusing you of being the Devil's son's whore, but to me that's generally on the same level."

Aleera hissed, "Do not pretend to know anything about my master, ignorant human."

Bingo! I found the soft spot. "I'm not pretending, I do know a lot of things about him. Example one, he is a male, example two, he is a vampire - "

Impatiently, Aleera cut Kyla off, she did not seem to notice that the sun was rising. Kyla wasn't sure at this point what her plan was, but if she could stall for a bit longer she was praying it would come to her. She had no desire to be a blood bag.

Aleera stalked forward, stopping after two strides. The light fell on her, illuminating her body as well as her choice of clothing, which was distasteful in Kyla's eyes. Her body was a perfect hourglass figure even if her endowment wasn't generous, but her hips were sharp, and the tight pink outfit she was wearing enunciated that quite well. Dracula has two more of these girls laying around and he's not satisfied? "Don't waste my time, I'm here to welcome you to our home on behalf of my master." Then she was wrapping her hand around Kyla's throat, the other prying the bible with a suppressed hiss of pain out of her hand and throwing it. "And perhaps, to steal a little taste…"

Her good hand moved to grasp Aleera's wrist, a grunt escaping her lips as she was hoisted into the air so her toes barely brushed the ground. "I would have made your death quick, but it seems you need to learn to respect your superiors."

"I think you mean elders, he's way to old to be anything else."

The color of Aleera's eyes shifted, turning so dark that they were nearly endless pools of black. "You dare mock my master in my presence, petty mortal girl?" Aleera snarled, a bit of venom coming loose from her mouth. "It will be the last thing you ever do, and I will enjoy watching every last ounce of lifeblood flowing from your body and into my hands." With her free hand she ripped away the collar of her shirt, exposing the flesh of her shoulder to the cold morning air. Oh god, this is it, she's going to bite me and it'll be all over. A pause, At least I'm not dying a virgin.

Kyla closed her eyes, expecting two fangs to sink into her neck. Instead she felt something sharp trace over her skin, and when she opened her eyes she immediately wished she hadn't. Aleera smirked cruelly at her before her fingernail cut easily through Kyla's skin before digging into the wound. She screamed out, pain exploding in her neck as her nerves protested the harsh treatment her neck was receiving. "Yes, scream. Scream, scream as loud as you want. No one will hear you."

The finger extracted itself from her wound, and Kyla quickly reigned in her bearings. Her eyes were watering, her shoulder throbbing, her lips trembling, and her breath coming out in quick and shuddering pants. Aleera had eased off the pressure of her neck, allowing a subsequent amount of airflow passageway, but the pain in her neck almost made her wish she couldn't breath again. It would have been much better.

The finger was back in the gushing wound, except this time it was joined by another claw, this laceration only three inches from the other. Kyla did not scream this time, she would not give Aleera the pleasure of hearing her scream, but the pain was horrible, and a few muffled whimpers passed through the tight seal of her lips as she cowered from the vampire's cruel touch. "I am going to drink every last ounce of your blood, and I will relish in your suffering as you bleed on my hand." At the sound of that haunting voice, Kyla knew she'd never sleep soundly again, that was, if she ever got the chance to sleep.

She had the feeling she wouldn't though, and what a shame that was. Her cheekiness dissipated so quickly it would seem as if it hadn't been there in the first place. She'd only just gotten here, and granted it wasn't the place she'd have chosen to go but that didn't mean she wanted to die. It'd only been a week and she was already facing death. Resignation be gone, she wasn't going out this easy.

"While you burn in hell, I will cherish the feeling of your blood as you rot in the inferno." Her words were chilling, and Kyla swore she was going to die in that moment. She closed her eyes, going slack as Aleera's fingers pushed deeper into the incision on her neck. The pain was horrible, and it only seemed to grow, but as her heartbeat grew louder in the wound Kyla realized something: she may be in what was most likely the worst position of her life, but she wasn't dead, not yet.

Hence where the instincts kicked in, and kicked in they did. Using her good hand that had the band of silver wrapped tightly around the appropriate finger, Kyla punched Aleera in the face, a satisfying hiss sounding from the vampire as the seemingly pure silver jewelry made contact. "If I'm going to hell, you're coming with me." She fell on unsteady feet when Aleera released her, wobbling backwards as the vampire screeched in pain.

Kyla was quick to scramble for the Genesis, her hand wrapped around its cover before thrusting it at the vampire. Aleera hissed again, and Kyla groaned as her arm protested from the quick and jerky movement. Blood was steadily pouring from the two puncture wounds in her neck, and she could feel it beginning to take its toll on her state of mind through the rush of excitement.

The sun was peaking through the trees now, and Kyla ran, she turned and ran from where Aleera was moaning in pain. Her legs felt like jello as the red haired beauty called after her, her voice barely human as she roared. "I will kill you human! You cannot hide from your fate forever!"

And when I do, a small voice inside her head whispered, one that was not her own, I will be anything but forgiving.

Kyla didn't turn back. Her heart only beat faster as she ran the path back to Julianna, back to safety. Her vision was blurring as the adrenaline faded, her chest heaving from the lack of air, her pain resurfacing and burning and throbbing ceaselessly as she kept on. The sun was lighting her path, allowing her to pick over straggling branches that poked from the ground despite her unstable state.

The trees opened up at the end, and the shack-house that had been her home for the past while came into view. Her vision swayed, her neck and wrist throbbing as she clutched the bible close to her body. She hit the ground, her eyes lolling into the back of her head.

It wasn't till much later that Julianna found Kyla in that horrible state. Her face pale, eyes closed and blood pouring steadily from the wound. She would die soon, but her cry of horror had awoken the whole of her house, and when they came out to find Kyla on the ground with two puncture wounds in her neck, they only assumed the worst.

* * *

Everything hurt. Kyla could barely think through the pain; the stiffness of her arm, the throbbing in her neck, the dull ache of her wrist. She tried to pull her limbs close to her body as to get in the fetal position, but her arms were tied back, and her spine was pressed rather uncomfortably into some vertical thing or another. Kyla groaned, stretching as painlessly as she could before rotating her neck to work out the kinks. Her mind was blurry, a faint buzzing in her ears as she found the will to open her eyes.

It was dim, and the lack of lighting was comfortable for her slitted eyes. Besides the lighting, Kyla could make no other conclusions on where she was. It was chilly down there, more so than any other place she'd been so far - but it was also completely unfamiliar. She had half a mind to ask what was going on, but she figured she could find out herself by getting up. Groaning breathily, Kyla made an attempt to get up when she realized she couldn't. One look at her ankles and wrists and it was confirmed: Kyla was tied up.

It felt like a punch to the stomach as she struggled more, ignoring the protesting of her battered wrist as she thrashed. She remembered blacking out, but why would they keep her down...wherever she was?

Her eyes flitted from side to side when there was a small creak from above, so small in fact that Kyla almost thought she imagined it. But then a figure formed in the darkness, and Kyla's eyes widened in anticipation as a familiar voice called out to her. "Kyla?"

Relief flooded through her, "Julianna, what is going on? Why am I down here?"

Julianna hurried down to where Kyla was, just barely visible in the thick darkness despite being right in front of her. She grabbed Kyla's cheek, then felt her head. "Oh goodness you're so warm!"

Kyla pulled her head back and out of Julianna's grip, echoing her question. Julianna sighed, shaking her head as she looked at her. "They think...they think…" She paused, her voice growing solemn, "why were you in the woods?"

Kyla didn't know how to respond. She opened her mouth, heart and head pounding in unison. She couldn't lie to Julianna, but she couldn't tell the truth either. "I was restless and needed some fresh air, I thought I could make it to the stream and get some water before everyone else would wake."

Julianna nodded, her expression urging Kyla on. She momentarily choked on her words, struggling to swallow her refusal to lie. It's for the better.

Kyla continued.

"I was attacked by one of Dracula's brides, Aleera. She had held me by the neck and told me she was going to kill me. I fought back in an attempt to save my life, but she broke my wrist and dug her fingers into my skin." Kyla's eyes clouded over as the scene played in her head, all the pain coming back to her, the words coming back to her. The promise of a merciless death. Her voice loss conviction, "it hurt, but she didn't bite me. The sun rose before she could, and I ran when she released me."

"You're lying to me." Kyla looked up, Julianna's face was solemn, but she didn't look hurt. She said it so plainly, almost as if she had been speaking of the weather. "I know you are - I saw the book and ring," Kyla wanted to hang her head in shame, but she couldn't look away. " but I believe that she didn't bite you. And if she did, you're my friend, and I shan't leave you stranded here. They wish to kill you, because they think you too will become a nosferatu, and they wish to do it before the night falls."

At this Kyla paled considerably, now fully incapable of swallowing through the lump in her throat. "Well this...this is news. Unfortunate news, but news nevertheless." Her lack of seriousness conveyed her feelings on the topic. She'd just brushed death, and in return she was going to be killed - most likely with a stake to the heart. How peachy.

"We have little time, I have the key to your confines." Julianna fished for the silver piece in her robe, hurriedly placing it in the lock and twisting it, then going to free Kyla's other hand.

"Why are you doing this for me when I lied to you?" Kyla rubbed her hands when they were both released, holding her wrist as Julianna proceeded to unchain her feet.

"Because…" She began, unlocking the final chains with a defeated sigh. "Because you're different. I think you are here for something, something more than to see your family. And you need to be free if you are going to do that."

Kyla stopped, Julianna's words hitting her hard - something more? What the hell did that mean?

"Now is not the time to contemplate, Kyla. We must make haste!" Sobering up, Kyla nodded and followed, her legs slowly waking up with every measured step.

"The townspeople," Julianna began in a hushed whisper, "are coming a little after noon. They are going to prepare a mock trial, and then they will hang you. Or would, rather. If all is well you will escape before even the traces of them begin to arrive."

"I need to get something."

"There's no time, we can't risk getting caught - "

"You have to trust me." Kyla said, her voice pleading as she held Julianna's shoulder in her shaky hand. "I know releasing me was out of your faith in me, but I swear it's not misplaced. I have to get the books, and I've got to get the ring too, and you can't ask any questions because I can't tell you the truth."

They sat like that for a long moment, but Julianna's face softened and she conceded. "I'll help you get them. The books and ring are together in my room, I had to hide them away so no one would get them. Go outside through the back door and hide in the wood, wait for me and I'll bring it all to you."

Kyla nodded, following Julianna out of the cellar before sneaking out the backdoor, unseen but not seeing herself. When she made it outside she looked left and right before darting into the woods, taking cover behind a tree with a heaving chest, looking behind her to confirm she was alone.

She sat there for five long, agonizing minutes, waiting for Julianna to appear. Fear had begun to well up in her, but then the back door creaked open and Julianna's head popped out between the crack in the door before fully appearing. She headed into the woods, only calling out for Kyla when she was fully submerged. "Here."

"I got them for you, but be wary, the townspeople are arriving at any time, and when they do and find out you're gone I can't do anything to stop them. You will find your way out there."

She handed the things over, and Kyla grabbed them as well as she could with her single hand. "I cannot thank you enough, Julianna. If everything goes south for me I'm glad to call you my friend." Julianna smiled sadly at her, tears welling in her eyes before she pulled Kyla in for a hug. Awkwardly she responded, wrapping her arm around the girl and shushing her.

"I believe everything will work out for you in the end, just remember to have faith."

"Right...have faith." Kyla tucked one of the books away, before looking up a Julianna with a truly sad smile. She would miss the girl even if they hadn't been familiar for long, but she was optimistic - a ray of light in a blanket of darkness. Something rare to be treasured.

"Forgive me, but I can't let them think you helped." With the Book of Genesis in her hand, Kyla brought it down on the top of Julianna's head, rendering the girl unconscious and with an already blossoming wound on her head. Kyla helped her friend into a less awkward and more visible position before turning away and taking off farther into the wood. Earlier it had nearly been her death, but now it would be her salvation.


End file.
